Night Life
by Hawkflight7
Summary: Akane Tsunemori finds herself in a predicament. She's trapped in a room that only Shogo Makishima has a key for. She has no idea why she's still alive, what he wants from her, or what she could possibly offer him but, he's obviously expecting something.
1. Chapter 1

**Night Life**

_- contact_

**Summary: Akane Tsunemori finds herself in a predicament. She's trapped in a room that only Shogo Makishima has a key for. She has no idea why she's still alive, what he wants from her, or what she could possibly offer him but, he's obviously expecting something.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Psycho Pass**

**Keep in mind that this story is rated M and will have mature content within. If you can't handle cussing, blood, torture, lemons, etc. then don't read. The story starts near the end of episode 16. On top of that tower I can't currently remember the name of and shall never be mentioned again. Hope you all enjoy this!**

Blood trickled down her knee, dripping onto the metal staircase below her. _Drip, drip, drip._ It's like the little hand on a clock ticking down until the next minute to start over again. She didn't have such an oppurtunity though, to start over. Gripping the cloth around her leg she pulled it tighter to stop the blood flow from the wound. Akane kept glancing up towards the door above while hearing the sounds of fighting.

Turning her attenssion back to the task at hand her teeth gritted. The flow was slowing but she wished it would go a bit faster. The blast from a Dominator echoed from above. Forcing her breathing to slow further she stayed sitting for ten seconds more before standing and keeping the cloth tied firmly around her leg. Her gaze wandered the staircase falling onto the discarded helmet on the floor. It was the only thing to use as a weapon since the Dominator didn't work on Makishima. For some obscure reason it couldn't judge him.

Picking it up from the foor she started up the last flight of stairs the would open up onto the radio platform. The sounds of combat could be heard from above but then they stopped. Foot falling on the middle rung she could hear bits of conversation. The only part she heard clearly was from Makishima, _"I had thought this would end in a less disapointing manner, but even so, for the first time in a long while, I was able to forget my boredom."_

She came to the top of the stairs at the last word. Akane stood frozen for a second at the sight of Kogami on the ground with blood soaking through his hair, sticking to one side of his face. Then she was rushing forward, legs moving quickly to close the distance between her and Makishima's back.

**/ / /**

The sudden tapping behind him alerted the asymptomatic to the person approaching. He turned, his right hand wielding the knife as he jabbed it at the Inspector who went to hit him on the head with a metal helmet of all things. The one he had made and distributed to the public. Using the forearm to block the blow coming in from the left his fingers curled over the metal and tugged it out of her grasp, throwing it across the room.

The girl moved slightly with the helmet causing his knife to miss it's mark. With a slight stumble, her feet planting themselves firmly on the ground a foot and a half apart. She was breathing heavily obviously not accustomed to close combat.

With a sardonic grin at this realization his left hand moved quickly to grasp at her throat, fingers tightening along the slim neck. He held her there the preasure just below what it would take to make the woman black out. She was dangling from his extended arm, the tip of her toes barely brushing the floor when he had lifted her body ever so slightly. Turning his head back towards Shinya Kogami he saw anger tightning the Enforcer's jaw. That was when he saw the flash of concern for his owner in the dog's eyes.

He was worried for this woman's safety? Shogo smirked down at the bleeding puppy. "Let's play a game, Shinya Kogami." He said turning back to look at the girl who now had her fingers wrapped around his own trying to get his grip on her neck to loosen. Makishima tightened his grip for a second elicting a gasp from her lips and her hand fell back to her side, dangling there, useless. "With each question you answer correctly I'll take away a finger. With each one wrong answer I'll apply some more preasure and put a finger back on. Deal?"

Kogami's eyes narrowed, glaring straight at the mad man infront of him, but with no real choice he muttered a yes.

Shogo smirked in response to this forced participant. "Now let's see just how much you know of Pascal. We'll start with something easy. What was Pascal's first invention?" Having this little bird in his hand was certainly fun considering he got to watch both of them squirm or rather the girl had stiffened in his hand from this game he was playing with the Enforcer. Glancing at her he smirked, "Relax. Don't you have any trust in your hunting dog?" His gaze fell back onto Kogami.

Seeing the anger in the Enforcer's eyes made him wonder why he hadn't done something like this before. It was amusing and he certainly wasn't bored anymore either. "The mechanical calculator, orginally know as Pascal's Calculators and Pascalines."

"Correct." Shogo said, lifting a finger from the inspector's neck, brushing her chin for a moment. A little part of his mind noted how soft her skin was. "Next, his two most famous works?"

The glare was still heavy on Shogo while he answered, "Lettres provinciales and Pensees."

Another finger was lifted and yet the Inspector never slipped from his grip. "What was written in the Pensees?"

"It contains ideas and jottings that represented a defense of the Christian religion."

Shogo smirked down at him while adding a finger back to the girl's neck. "You're answer was incomplete, so," He added the fifth finger back on once again having all his fingers wrapped around the slim neck. Kogami moved to get up from the ground but quickly fell back down before even getting more than an inch off the floor. "Incase you were curious," He squeezed at the throat clasped in his palm causing the Inspector to jerk, her hands flying back up to her throat. He shook his hand for a few seconds before stopping the action and relaxing his grip. He could feel her pulse beating fast beneath the skin. "Not all of those ideas were complete."

"Let her go." Kogami snapped from the ground evidently not happy about his owner being treated like a rag doll.

"But I haven't even asked question four." Shogo replied amused by his anger and went on to interupt anymore words the Enforcer might say. "What equipment used for medical injections did Pascal invent?"

Shinya Kogami was obviously fuming and his anger only seemed to make the blood pour from his body faster. "The syringe." Shogo lifted a finger up again for Kogami to explode at him, "Stop with this game and let her down now!"

"No." The criminal asymptomatic replied flatly.

"You'll be caught here by the MWPSB if you don't let her go."

Shogo grinned down at him. "You're saying I have to let her go or else the MWPSB will catch me?" The thought of being caught didn't sit well with him and he knew he had wasted some time here already. By now Cho must have gotten past any security and now had the data on the Sybil system atleast and possibly destroying it right now. Kogami's words ringed more of a challenge in his ears. "If you say so." He put his finger back on and tightened his grip until he felt her body go slack after passing out from lack of oxygen. Letting go he simply encircled his arm around the woman's waist and hefted her up so she was dangling from his shoulder. "I look forward to our next meeting Kogami. Maybe you and the rest of your crew will see your owner again sooner than you think." With those words he left carrying the girl, the dog growling on the floor barking threats after him and ways he would kill him if he hurt her.


	2. Chapter 2

_- white book_

**So glad you guys like it! I know the first chapter is more of an intro to what the summary says but here's the chapter with that involved.**

It was a day after the MWPSB had arrived along with a few perimedics that had looked at his injuries and given him treatment on the way back to headquarters. When Shinya Kogami awoke Unit 1 gathered into the room a few minutes later.

For the most part they looked concerned and nervous. Yayoi's face was grim as if she expected bad news. Mazaoka looked the most concerned his old face stuck in a neutreul expression that threatened to slip into a frown. Kagari was nowhere to be seen. Ginoza pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, folded his arms, then asked, "Where is Inspector Tsunemori?"

The Inspector... All of his memories from yesterday rushed at him; seeing Tsunemori rushing up behind Makishima to take him down, the ploy failing, Makishima holding Tsunemori up by her throat while he insisted Kogami play in a game with her life on the line, the criminal lying about one of his rules(or the non existance of it), not being able to get up from the ground with his blood flowing out from his wounds, watching as Tsunemori passed out, Makishima threatening her life again as he descended the stairs, his own angry shouts after him. "Makishima." He said voice coming out scratchy he looked to his left and spotted the bottled water and gulped some down after tearing the cap off in his rush.

How long had he been out? If Inspector Tsunemori ended up dead because of him he would never forgive himself until that bastard was dead and gone from this world with absolutely no chance of coming back. Pulling the bottle away from him his face was now set in an angry scowl. "Makishima," he said more clearly, "took her."

Mazaoka frowned at this but Ginoza interupted before the old man could speak, "What do you mean he took her?" The eyes behind the pair of glasses were enraged.

"As a hostage, he made her pass out then disapeared down the stairs with her." Kogami replied, beginning to sit up and tear any wires from his body. A nurse ran in as an alarm told her that things were coming undone and told him to lay back down. "No. Ginoza tell her to let me up, I have to help you find Tsunemori."

"Do you have any clue where he would take her?" The Inspector asked evenly.

There was a small pause. "No-"

"Then you'll get fully healed. Otherwise we're going to have to wait for a lead if we have any chance of finding her. Going out looking for him isn't going to yeild us any results. We have to wait for him to show himself or at the very least get involved in another crime."

"He could kill her by then!" Kogami snapped while the nurse pushed him back down to sit, she was failing though so Yayoi walked over and helped to hold him down while some restraints were put on the nurse muttering that he would end up reopening a wound if he kept moving like this.

"I'm sure the Missy can take care of herself before we get there. She's tough." Mazaoka said in an effort to make the two calm down and reason with Ko.

**/ / /**

Her eyes opened slowly taking a moment to adjust to the dim light coming from an old fashioned oil lamp hanging off of a wall. The light highlighted the rough curves of a stone wall. Akane raised her head slowly from the rough pinpricks against her right cheek gaze following the wall all the way around the room before settling on a dark wood door. She pushed herself up from the old throw rug she was lying on into a sitting position. Her eyes continued to survey her surroundings; black wood ceiling, just a slightly lighter wood floor, the rug she sat on obviously used to be a bright red but had been washed so much it looked a sick pink, two chairs sat in the middle of the room, with what looked like a sort of podium in the middle.

She stayed still on the rug questions swimming through her mind. Where was she? How did she get here? The last thing she remembered was Makishima's hand around her throat and then... darkness. Her heart started to pound in her chest, fear rather than caution taking over.

The door swung open at that moment and she turned quickly to see who it was though she knew who it had to be. "Theft, incest, infanticide, patricide, have all had a place among virtuous actions." It was hardly enough to see Makishima coming through the door, but to hear him as well really made it real. She could never dream up a sentance like that in a thousand years. He kicked the door shut after him and walked to one of the chairs and sat down, looking over at her.

She forced herself to speak nonchantly, "Pascal again?" He had talked a lot about the philosopher the other night so she took a random stab in the dark.

The smirk that appeared set her blood below freezing. "Good guess." His hand raised motioning for her to get up and move. "Come and sit." It sounded like a suggestion but with a person like him she doubted it. Not having much of a choice she got to her feet stopping only to glance down at her leg. It had still hurt a bit when she had been running across the floor and now she couldn't feel it. Looking down she could see a white bandage in place of her makeshift one. "It's already been disinfected."

Akane brought her gaze back up to the criminal, she wanted to ask why but figured it out herself fast enough. He wasn't killing her yet, which meant he planned to use her somehow. Whether it just be a hostage situation or he wanted information. It could still be something else entirely though. She walked over slowly, pulling out the chair slightly before slipping in. The table had little squares covering the surface surrounded by one bigger square. For a moment she wondered why that was until Makishima pulled open one side of the table, revealing a hidden compartment. He brought out little game pieces, closing the side back down, and starting putting them on the chess board. "Where am I?" she asked while watching him set up the black pieces on her side first.

"I would leave your teammates to worry about that if I were you." Makishima replied setting up the white peices now. She fell silent wondering if he was playing another game with them, or perhaps it was Kogami he was playing with. "You're turn Inspector." His eyes raised up to hers after moving a piece the cold amber gaze making her fingers stop from twitching even though she hid them beneath the table. She didn't think she was ever going to get used to that.

Glancing towards the board to break the connection she raised her hand slowly and copied his move of the pawn infront of the king going two spaces forward. "Why are you so interested in Kogami?" she asked after a moment.

"My only interest is seeing what he will do next, like all my other toys." The reply was short and yet it explained a lot as well. A sort of cat and mouse game, that's what it must be for the two. She knew Ko was obssessed with catching Makishima, and he was obssessed with seeing if the Enforcer could catch him or not. Judging by the last fight his interest could only have piqued what with the possibility of him catching up again. Akane had no doubt in her mind that Kogami would. "Inspector, what do you think of the Sybil system?"

"What?" she was shocked from her thoughts that he had asked something like that. "I.." she took a moment to move one of the knights out onto the field. "The Sybil system helps guide people on the path best for them, so they can be happy thoughout their life, to stop them from stressing so much, which stops their crime coefficent from rising and therefore stops crime. It creates a world where people can be happy and healthy. The system is a neccessary component of our lives... even if it doesn't have the capacity to judge your crimes."

Makishima seemed to consider her words, staring at her even after she was done speaking. A small smile appeared on his face at the last couple words. "Did you know that having stress is actually healthy?" At her confused look he grinned and continued, "Stress can motivate people to do things like go to work from the stress of needing to make money to pay for their bills. It makes you productive. There's arguments that in short bouts it can boost the immunity system. Not having stress is actually a factor in creating depression."

She mulled over the information for a second a question came to mind though. "You said once that your hue has always been white. So doesn't that mean you've never been stressed?" She moved her knight out of the way of the white bishop.

"I can become stressed like any other person. I've experienced emotions like anger before. My hue has just never changed since I was very young. It doesn't mean I'm not like other people." The bishop was moved across the board to collect the pawn positioned diagonally from the rook.

Akane couldn't believe that was true. "But you're not like other people." she said almost regretting saying so when he focused back on her instead of the board where she had been making her recent move. "You're hue doesn't change, you're crime coefficent never goes above a hundred no matter your actions. You don't even think like other people in Japan, most of them accept the Sibyl system. The one's that don't never actually take action against the system. Not to mention the fact that none of them quote Pascal or know mundane facts to a T about him."

A chuckle broke through the air and she stared at him in shock, eyes wide. It didn't stop though and his face was still twisted into a smile, it wasn't fading away. So... this scene infront of her wasn't a hallucination? His eyes glanced to her as the sound started to die back down but when his eyes found her face he started chuckling again. She blinked. What? "Is.. is something on my face?" Her hands flew up to check the skin from her neck up, patting along her cheek, nose, forehead trying to find what it was that made him start laughing again.

She couldn't believe it! Makishima was laughing! A humane laugh! A criminal shouldn't have that sort of laugh. All light instead of cruel and it was a genuine sound, not some sort of fake high pitch or too crazy sounding laugh that most expected from a criminal. That fact unnerved her.

"No." Makishima said bringing his soft chuckle back under control. "There's nothing on your face." She waited a couple seconds but he didn't explain why he had started in the first place. He just moved a piece silently out onto the board. Seeing where he had placed it she quickly glanced back to see if anything else of his could reach the square. Settling her fingers on the knight she moved it over in the L shape to knock the piece aside and put her own in the previously occupied square. She didn't even see the hand reached towards her until his fingers were wrapped around her wrist.

Akane's hand froze in midair in it's motion of coming back to rest in her lap. Her eyes flicked up to his face heart pounding again but she wasn't sure why. She didn't feel afraid. Then she noticed his other arm moving and her heart stopped at the flash of metal. She pulled back but his grip was firm and actually tightened for a moment. "Could you keep your arm up?"

"Eh?" She glanced at him catching his eyes this time while wondering why he would ask. Of course she wanted to get away from the guy holding a knife to her arm! She didn't want any body parts off.

"This would be easier with both my hands free. Think you can keep your arm still?" Biting at her lip she hesitantly nodded and he let go. She had to force herself to keep from moving and was aware of the fear written on her face. As he brought that knife towards her arm. The very same one he had used to cut her friend's throat. At this realization her mind flashed back to that moment. She could feel herself start to tremble as she recalled the event in her mind.

His sick twisted smile as he calmly cut across her throat in one smooth motion.

"Inspector." The killer's voice brought her back to the present in a heartbeat and she stared into his amber eyes, still shaking. "Breath, and stay still." She became aware of her heavy breathing and nodded her head quickly at his words and just took in one breath and held it for a couple seconds, counting mentally in her head before blowing back out slowly. The knife came down quickly towards her skin, digging in for a second before flicking back out. She flinched from the brief contact looking at the small sort of triangle shape where barely a centimeter of skin used to be. Blood was already collecting near the top as a small ping alerted her to the fact that a vial was pressed beneath the small wound, the triangle skin was already in the clear thin glass. Makishima had rubbed the blood from the blade over the edge. She watched as the knife came back to tear the hole a bit deeper causing the blood to gather faster and drip down into the vial. Other little bits of flesh fell in with it and she shivered.

After a glance from amber eyes she stilled again, her lip kept quivering though. Once the vial was an eighth full he pulled the knife back grabbing a white cloth previously put on the table that she had failed to take notice of. He wiped the blood off then put it to her wound before taking the vial away. The preasure stopped the flow quickly considering it was so small. She watched soundlessly as he pulled it away folding a clean part over the blood covered one. Akane's eyes widened when it came closer and she could feel the soft cotton over her lip, applying preasure for only a few seconds, before brushing it and the small part below before it was brought away and she caught sight of the added blood.

That's when she noticed the metallic taste in her mouth. She had broke the skin on her lip from biting so much. Akane was too transfixed on the fact that she hadn't tasted it before it was pointed out to her to see Makishima leave while putting a cap on the vial.

**/ / /**

Shogo closed and locked the door securely behind him before walking down the hall and up the stairs. He stopped in the living room, looking over a man seated on a couch. Dropping the vial into his hand he told him to add that into the blood of his next kill.

When the man left a minute later after picking up some other tools for the 'next kill' Shogo sat down onto the couch going over the conversation he had had with the Inspector down in the basement. It had been interesting of course to hear her views on the system, he always liked to know more of what others thought. It had also been amusing. He couldn't stop the surprised expression on her face from popping back into his head when he had laughed.

Her eyes had been practically hysterically wide. Jaw dropping open to gape like a fish showing sparkling teeth and a pink tongue that couldn't seem to move to form any words. Then he had started chuckling again and her she was speaking swiftly obviously wondering why as she tried to figure out what was it he had seen to make him start again. She had guessed right with it having been the face, though it was more the expression than anything else. When her hands started touching at her face though his mind went back to the tower when his finger had drawn across her jaw. He had remembered how soft the skin had been though had kept a cloth between them when he wiped the blood from her lip.

Of course seeing her confused wasn't as good as seeing her scared. The girl had been trembling more than a leaf during the fall, biting at her lip so much it eventually bled, and all just from him taking out the blade and putting it to her arm. He had been surprsied she had been able to keep her arm there and that she even did as he said. Still, her eyes had looked far away like she wasn't in the present for the first few seconds and he hadn't liked that as much. Being in fear at that moment was a lot more.. appetizing to watch.


	3. Chapter 3

_- splatter_

**If you think a character in this is acting ooc please tell me. So far it seems all good but if I somehow mess up just throw me a pm or somethin'. Now onto this... creepy story. Damn, where is my romance disapearing too? Makishima! Stop killing it!**

"Mister Zanokwa," a voice drifted through the still air. "do you know why you're in the position you are in now?" The only response to this question were muffled words from a man who had a sock stuffed into his mouth. Evidently this made whatever he was trying to say to answer or in defense of himself or well, whatever he was trying to say couldn't be distinguished. "No?" Another round of dull incomprehensible sounds filled the room with an edge of panic. "Better think up something then."

Heavy footfalls hit the floor, a trickle of light through the window falling on the blade in hand and other various metal utensils spread about the room. The mutterings got louder in a few seconds becoming silent screams as the metal twisted and sliced along skin, muscle, and bone.

When it was done the killer drew out a small glass vial and went around dripping it in various patches of blood. Slipping it back in the pocket they exited the apartment humming a happy tune.

**/ / /**

When she had woken up that morning-atleast she thought it was morning, or maybe it was night, Akane couldn't tell anymore and it probably didn't matter. There was a similar bandage, more thin than the one around her leg that was now around her arm.

She was still currently pacing the room back and forth wondering when Makishima had come inside and put it on without waking her up. The fact that she hadn't even woken up sent goosebumps down her arms, the hairs on the back of her neck raised as if a cold breeze had brushed across it. The thought of him being in here while she was sleeping, his hands on her arm while she was sleeping, putting the bandage on her while... she was sleeping. It's not like she was a heavy sleeper granted she wasn't exactly a light sleeper either. She was inbetween the two like most people.

The oil lamp had been refilled as well. Just another sign of him having been in here. She had checked the door the other day and found it locked which really wasn't that surprising in hindsight. As if he would let her wander around. Though she had noticed another door in a corner that led to a small bathroom. Akane had drinked the water from the sink to quell her hunger and try to get her stomach to shut up the moment she found it.

Unfortunetly it had started up again an hour after she got up. She had tried to do the water trick again to get her body to think it was full but apparently it had caught on and would not fall for it a second time. She was starting to get angry at Makishima. If you were going to kidnap someone and not kill them immedietly shouldn't you do it right? So the person didn't die some other way?

Unless that was his plan... to starve her. A very slow painful death, if the rumor about the stomach acid starting to eat the stomach was true. Just thinking about it made her skin crawl.

Click. Akane spun on her heel to face the door as the knob turned and she saw Makishima standing in the doorway. She opened her mouth to speak, either demand when he had come in before or what his plans were, instead her stomach growled at the man accusingly. She could feel her cheeks warm with embaressement as he raised an eyebrow at her. She shut her jaw with an almost audible snap trying to not focus on the flames rising along her face.

"What was that?" Makishima questioned even though he must have known what it was. Asking something like that, torture, she decided. It was some sort of damn torture.

She forced her mouth open and said the first thing that came to mind. "A cough." She was not going to admit to being hungry, or to the fact that she had been waiting for him to come back so she could yell at him for not having brought her anything before. Maybe it was better she wasn't doing that right now... Akane coughed to prove it.

"Sounded more like a growl."

Her teeth bit into her lip instinctivly. "Well," she muttered before raising her voice to it's normal tone, "yes, it was a growl, and not a cough. Must have gotten the two mixed up somehow." Likely from lack of brain food. She barely drew her lips back and growled softly still not wanting the stomach being the one to do it to come up at all. Akane actually found herself more embaressed than before when Makishima just stared silently at her without saying a word or even moving after her display. The flames drew down to her neck.

Seconds seemed to be ticking by and she felt as if her life was on the line until he said, "Okay." Judging from his voice though he hadn't bought the act and was apparently just going with it. Damn! Why had she growled at him? She knew she wasn't that good of an actor in the first place anyways.

Makishima moved into the room and her eyes were drawn to a bag held in one of his hands as the door closed behind him and he just kept walking until he got to the chess table and set it on top. Akane could smell the contents from within and stepped forward slowly to pause. What if he had laced it with poison? She pushed that thought out of her mind a second later. This was Makishima if he wanted to kill her it wouldn't be so simple.

She slipped into the same chair as last time watching him pull out various foodstuffs. Mostly snacks along with a plastic bowl with steam rising from little holes in the top. Hesitantly she reached out for what she figured was soup pulling it over to herself after a second passed. She took the plastic spoon attached to the side and lifted the lid to start eating.

"You have a name Inspector?" She looked up a noodle sticking out from her mouth slightly when he randomly asked the question. He was sitting across from her now and she wondered for a moment how long he had been staring at her.

Akane quickly drew the noodle into her mouth realising she must have looked silly. She swallowed before she answered not really seeing how it could cause any problems to tell. It's not like she had found an exit to get out of here. "Akane Tsunemori." After a second of silence she went back to eating feeling his gaze on her.

"Tsunemori, " Makishima had begun to talk but her mind was stuck on him saying her last name. Her eyes drew up watching his mouth move but not hearing anything he said. It took her a moment to realise he had stopped and was looking at her expectantly.

"Ummm," she chewed at her lip. "yes?' Akane glanced at him again trying to discern his expression and tell what he was thinking. It was a lost cause. She dipped her head back down to stare at the empty bowl infront of her. When it was moved away she glanced back up to see him putting the two plastic things back in the bag. "What did you..." she paused not wanting to ask what it was he had said and make it already more obvious than before that she hadn't been listening. "do with that vial?"

He gave her a dangerous smirk in response to what she thought would have been a simple question. "That's another thing for your team to worry about."

She frowned slightly it was a similar answer to her one only other question it seemed. Unless you asked about someone or the system or... old dead people. Which she was sure was interesting for those that knew more about, old dead people. "Why?" She couldn't stop herself from questioning him. He just looked at her steadily as if waiting. Her cheeks began to warm again and she explained more, "Why are you doing this? Just to mess with Kogami or is there another reason Makishima?" She bit directly on her lip, catching her tongue a bit causing herself to visibly wince. Stupid, she cursed in her head. Stupid, stupid, to tack his name on. They weren't friends or anything.

Makishima stood from his chair and she leaned back into her own as he walked around the table to stop at the left, looking down at her. "Do you remember what your Enforcer said on the tower? 'You'll be caught here by the MWPSB if you don't let her go'?" Akane nodded her head slowly. "Then you also remember what happened after?"

"Barely a minute." She muttered in response. The only real thing she had remembered after that was the retort to Ko's words, his long fingers on her neck tightening, loss of air, her heart beat picking up in terror that he would kill her, darkness. A pair of golden suns dragged her back from that and she thought she felt something on her skin, along her face. Akane blinked and realised he had leaned over towards her, a single finger tilting her chin up so she had to look into his eyes.

"Want me to elaborate Tsunemori?" Her heart beat faster when he said her name. Akane cleared her throat wanting to speak but she couldn't find her voice so instead she nodded her head just slightly. A grin flashed across his face and she tried to hold back the breath of air that slipped past her lips. He looked like an angel. The light at the angle she was seeing him at made his face seem scultped. She dug her nails into the arms of the chair to stop herself from leaning up and doing something she would regret and kick herself about for years after she got out of this situation. The entire situation. For now she restrained herself and listened to him speak, "I took you, little bird, to see if they could come and save you within a certain timeframe, and if not, as I told Shinya Kogami, you'll be on display in the city for them to find."

Her heart stopped for a second as fear dug into her like a knife. She began to tremble, her whole body frame shaking at that information. "Timeframe?" Akane forced herself to speak and found her voice cracking at the single word. "How much longer do they have to... find me?"

"Two days." Makishima replied nonchantly as if giving her the day of her death sentance was no big deal at all. A whimper filled the silence afterwards and it took Akane a second to notice she had done that. She was still shaking and her lip was quivering at the thought of dying. She whimpered again unable to stop herself. "You don't place much trust in your dogs do you Tsunemori?" She felt a light preasure as her chin was raised further up. When she met his gaze this time she flinched away. "What about the other herder?" Her skin prickled along her chin and it took her a second to register that it was his thumb tracing up. She wasn't even sure how she could begin to answer the questions if he had wanted an answer. "You tried to hit me on the head at the tower." Akane froze over from his tone of voice, suddenly dark and threatening. She had been keeping track in the back of her mind where his thumb was and her heart lept into her throat when she felt it brush along her lower lip. Her eyes widened but otherwise she couldn't make herself move. With a single last brush Makishima turned away and grabbed the bag to leave with a single last comment, "Here must all distrust be left behind; all cowardice must be ended."

Akane let out her breath when the door shut then quickly drew in air as if she had been drained of oxygen after the last couple hours.

**/ / /**

He rubbed his thumb and forefinger together as he walked up the stairs to the first floor to turn into where the library was located. Her skin had been softer than he remembered and her lip had been smooth, flawless.

It had been a good idea to move closer to her when she had mumbled for a second. To her or anyone else in her field of work it could simply be explained as an intimidation tactic. Rather than just a move to get closer to her and an excuse to touch her. Granted that woman wouldn't probably believe something like that considering how terrified she had looked when he told her his intention. He hadn't been lying either.

Shogo Makishima wanted to see if Shinya Kogami could find his owner in his own designated time. He had told his latest criminal toy to throw in her blood to their next carnage to throw them off, but also to see them squirm, trying to reach their precious Inspector before it was to late. Of course his expectations for them getting to her in the timeframe were low. He hadn't even put any clues out for them besides the blood which could be taken in multiple directions. Needless to say he was looking forward to what would come of it, and in the meantime he could continue to see her and run a finger here or there 'accidently' or 'in the moment'.

He was slightly stuck on the fact that she had said his name. It might have been because he started using hers which had made her zone out the first time oddly enough. He hadn't elaborated to what he had asked but since it had been a yes or no type of question and she answered in the affirmative he would have to see what her reaction was tommorrow. Most people other than his enemies didn't speak his name, and when they did it was with anger. When she said it it had been different, there was no venom coating the word, it was as if she were talking to just another person, or it would have been had there not big a red tinge to her cheeks. She had been blushing quite a lot this time round but then again it seemed mostly because of her own actions rather than him.

He chuckled softly while running a hand over the spines of old leather books. She had growled at him. The little bird had been trying to hide the sound of her stomach doing the deed so she growled. It had been so sudden and amusing, he had to force himself not to start laughing like before. Face all red from embaressement, her lips slightly drawn back so one could see a small sliver of teeth. If he had been closer he might have bitten into her lip to see if she would growl or make another noise for him.

Her whimpers were rather cute too. His fingers paused in looking for a familiar tome. Cute? He supposed everything about her was cute. The way she moved, spoke, her reactions to what he said and did. She was pleasant to look at with her honey dew eyes and pale skin, the short hair that had resembled a bit of a bird's next when he came in today was as well.


	4. Chapter 4

_- haunting_

**Fourth chapter already! Damn I'm writing this fic fast. Now special thanks to reviewers; EternityMusic4Me, DarkinocensDLT, and anonymous Guest. And thanks to those that have faved and followed. Also, I don't understand half of what I've written for the clothes and I don't expect you to either, though if your curious you can always google or go look at lulu's where i found most of the designs (outer clothes anyways) while adding a small flare to each.**

He twisted the knob slowly and cracked the door open to have the sound of water pounding down in the smaller room reach his ears. Makishima had been hoping to scare the girl with a more silent entry but it seemed that would have to wait for now. Closing the door back behind him he walked further into the room with a bag swaying at his side. The contents were curtosy of Akane's unsure yes from yesterday.

He had put a lot of thought into them. Probably to much unnecessary thoughts, among others. He approached the faded rug where she slept and first dug his hand inside to plop a fluffy similarly faded orange pillow. All the colors were what girls would like he thought if they weren't so old looking. But it's not like he was going to give her a five star hotel room to sleep in. Sure, he would make her last night on this earth more comfortable considering he would be killing her late into the night tomorrow if the other Inspector and Enforcers in her unit didn't find her. He wasn't completely crazy about them finding her either, but he had said that they would see her soon when he had taken her from the tower.

It had been interesting to have a woman slung across his back considering he didn't like it when his bubble was punctured by others. Cho had know this and was always standing a few feet away while he talked. That man hadn't come back from the mission so he had to assume he was dead and the information on Sybil had never come through either. So much loss but he had found a hacker to look into the unit sent there as well and found that an Enforcer had gone missing and they seemed sure he had run off in the chaos. A similar thing had happened in another unit during the riots according to the information. Atleast he wasn't the only one that had lost something.

Back to Akane though, his mind always led him back to her these days. He had seen her by camera before with the dogs but never really cared about watching her rather trying to see if Kogami would catch on quickly enough to the next scheme. It was a fun game afterall, to play with the minds of the MWPSB. He had played with her before as well a bit, taking her friend to get to the dog after watching their interactions-

His hand curled into a fist and he glanced to the open door of the bathroom, eyes falling on a darkened figure behind the shower curtains, his breathing slowed slightly even if he wasn't really seeing her. The shadow of her body beyond was slim, streams of water falling from the wet flatened strands of hair and small round half orbs of her breasts, hands raised up above her while working the fingers though her hair to rub whatever conditioner and shampoo he had set in there. She stepped further towards the showerhead tilting her head back, running the fingers down through her hair before twisting her body to grab for something off where a metal rack would be. At the new angle he could clearly see her hourglass shape before she turned back towards the front of the tub, rubbing soap collected in her hands along the curves of her body.

That Enforcer better not have ever seen her like this, or even halfway. He might just carve the dog alive if that had ever happened. Shogo Makishima wasn't very good with sharing his toys afterall.

Tearing his gaze from her he set the bag down and picked up the small stack of clothes within setting them down without dividing the different types. Taking the bag with him he left the room intent on asking her of the relationship she held with her dogs so he knew Kogami hadn't ever touched her later.

**/ / /**

A sigh broke through the silence of the room. Ginoza pushed up his glasses glancing around the room at blood splatters on the wall, draped like ribbons over the furniture. "It's just like the last one."

Mazaoka was crouched down looking at the patches of ground that were clean in a single square or rectangle of space without blood splatters or even tiny specs. The 'clean-up' machines buzzed around him zipping across the ground to suck up the blood and overall help with investigating what had cut into flesh and if it left traces behind. So far all the gear used by this paticular criminal seemed to be surgeon quality. Which meant Makishima was probably lending a helping hand since the criminal hadn't worked in the medical field. It also meant they were mostly interested in the cases concerning this one since the psycho path was pulling the strings behind it. If any clues of the whereabouts of Inspector Akane were to be found it would be here.

Beep!

One of the machines made a small pinging sound and Yayoi went over to see what it was making noise about. Crouching down she looked at the small screen, pinching her fingers together she touched them to the screen then spread the two apart making it become bigger so she could see more of the information at once. The screen had been split in two with a differrent set of DNA swirling round on each side. The left held the victim's info a, Mr. Zanokwa, along with an image of their face taken from a recent id of some sort. The right held the same, except the picture that should have been up wasn't, not yet anyways. It was flickering through images of citizens, running through them with little percentages that were slowly growing as it canceled out people every milisecond. When it hit a hundred percent and a confirmation signal came up which turned green a second later as someone back at headquarters verified the information. The little green box disapeared from the right side to reveal Akane Tsunemori's face.

"Ginoza," Yayoi called and waved her hand for the Inspector to come over. Apparently though from the tone of her voice the others decided to come over straight away as well. Kogami who had been inspecting the other rooms at the time came back into the living room. A small red light flashed at the top of the screen informing her that other machines scattered across the room were coming across the new information. She clicked on one to see another had found a sliver of muscle from the Inspector's body as well. She glanced over her shoulder to see the three men had gathered behind her before looking back at the screen, she widened it further before speaking, "The machines are picking up on blood, muscle," she clicked on another red light, "and skin from Akane." She touched a dial next to see how much of it the machines had gathered after the red dots began to fade into the background so they were barely visable. "It's only about half the amount of blood a normal syringe is capable of holding though." She glanced back over at them.

Kogami was glaring at the screen with his hand curled into a fist. "He's playing with us. Telling us she's still alive and that he's probably torturing her." If his eyes could have gone red from rage they would have. Even after he had yelled that he would kill Makishima if he laid a hand on Tsunemori he had still gone and done it. The criminal was mocking him for not finding her yet. Which was hard since the first clue hadn't said much.

They had found it while he was stuck in the hospital for the first day and a half, hidden in a dead body was a single old nail. Considering it was unsual to find rusted metal in a person's throat they had figured it had something to do with the Inspector, but so far were rather clueless to it considering how vague it was. Mazoka had identified it as a special sort of nail used for construction around a thousand years back. They had just gotten old building out of it and started inspecting and going through any old building they could find in the city or where certain historical places were demolished and the buildings that now sat there.

The second one was a lot more straight forward, it was the makeshift bandage Akane had tied around her leg up at the tower. It had been wrapped around a victim's wrist whose hand was pointing north at a tree with moss growing on the west side. It cut down on the locations that had to check but only by half. Somewhere in the north and west part of the city is where she was, the extent of what Makishima wanted them to know apparently.

Now they had another clue though but what bothered Shinya Kogami was they didn't know how long Makishima would keep her alive. There had been no clues to that but he knew they should move quickly to save her from the psychopath.

He didn't even want to think of what he was doing to her. The moment he found Akane he was going to make sure she got whatever medical attenssion she needed for injuries. Even sit by her bedside like she had done for him before to give her some company. He certainly didn't want to let her into danger like that again, unfortunetly it was her job, though he wanted to protect her from it.

"We'll need to have it all run through the system to see if something is hidden in it." Ginoza said. "Gather the bots up and let's get back to headquarters to see what this clue is so we can get the Inspector back sooner rather than later."

Kogami couldn't have agreed more, they needed to get moving with this investigation or something awful could happen to the sweet girl that shot him within the hour of their first meeting. He still remembered that perfectly when she had shouted and pulled the trigger. Mazaoka she was right, she was tough, hopefully she wouldn't have to hold her own too much longer.

**/ / /**

A sob escaped her lips, the hot tears that had been silent up till now scalded her face as it ran down her cheek. She reached forward to turn the second dial further to cold so the water rushing over her would help cool the skin and cool the paths of were her tears fell faster.

Akane couldn't believe it, she didn't want to. Tomorrow, probably late into the day she was going to die. There was of course her unit searching for her she knew and they were all good at their job but when Makishima wanted to kill someone he always got his way. Her friend had died because she hadn't been able to shoot him and now she was going to be a cold lifeless corpse as well within thirty four hours, or some time close to that.

She stepped closer to the showerhead, reaching up to adjust it so it was falling right on her head like a waterfall. Her body shook and she leaned forward to rest her head against the tiled wall. Breath coming in quick short bursts as she cried. She had known this type of work was dangerous but she hadn't even been working for more than a few months and already her career, her future, it was all coming to a halt infront of her. It was no wonder he had given her some food, simple pleasures before she would be gone from this world.

Inspector Ginoza would have to get another new partner to replace her. That was sad just because he had already lost one to this man and now he might lose her, just in a more permanent sense.

This time her sob was louder and her cry pierced the air around her, the sound was muffled from the waves of water falling over her. She cringed into the wall and slowly brought her hands up to her hair to part the strands and run her fingers hesitantly through them checking subconsiously that there were no more traces of shampoo or conditioner. Bringing her hand back to her face she sucked in a breath holding back anymore noises catching the of vanilla and cherries. It made her stomach flip unpleasantly. Not the actual smell but that it was what Makishima had put in the bathroom for her to use.

She didn't understand that man at all. He seemed fascinated with old books and philosophers and their outlooks on life. Using only the parts that he also believed in to get his points across to others. Even using such information as a form of games. The last one he had said, when he left, she had remembered seeing that once but she couldn't quite recall where. It was old, she knew that. The fact that she remembered coming across it in school unnerved her. Was there actually truth to some of the stuff he said? Well, of course there was but she trusted the sybil system even if it had it's flaws.

Akane just wished she could understand him a bit more so she could know why he acted the way he did. What drove him to the actions of yesterday. She could still feel the way her skin seemed to hum at his touch, her lip quivered even now from the loss of contact rather than being comforted that he wasn't there. Wanting to have him touch her like that again, it was horrible. Her thoughts kept conflicting with eachother, eventually her mind would tell herself to remember that he planned to kill her and the fear would settle in once more. But, for now, she was simply frustrated.

Shivering in the cold water she slowly reached for the mechanism and turned the dial. It acted like a screw spinning back into place and the water stopped shortly after just a few drops hitting the bottom of the tub every other second. Stepping out she wrapped the previously clean dry gray towel around her naked form, brushing her feet against the other towle she had set on the ground so when she walked on the smooth stone she wouldn't slip.

Upon coming out from the small bathroom she stopped, standing in the doorway looking over at what was where she slept. Besides just the fluffy pink rug was now a fluffy orange pillow, the bright colors even faded looked out of place down here but it added a quality to the room that she liked and could appreciate. Everywhere else one looked it was dark, cold, grey, brown, rough. It was nice to have one part that wasn't like that. She was taken aback though by the fact there was a pile of clothes ontop the fuzzy rectangle. After finally deciding to take a shower she found that her small compact device that usually made it so she could change holographic clothes easily wasn't working and had been worried that she would have to face Makishima in a towel next time. It was great that she wouldn't have to but again she was bothered by this display.

It hadn't been there when she left for the bathroom and now here it all was. He had been in here again except this time she had been awake and even then she had failed to notice his prescence. She decided he was sneaky like a cat right then, that it was just impossible to hear him enter a room unless you were staring at the door to hear the twist of a knob and see it turn.

She walked slowly over and dropped the towel after a quick glance over to make sure he hadn't left any other surprises. It was the same other than her little personal space though. A box of pocky and bag of chips along with another bag of various dried fruit still sat ontop the chess board. Crouching down aware that she was suddenly cold without the towel over her shoulders she started sifting through the small pile.

The first piece was a black tank top, the straps had a mini bow ontop of each with thin blue lines etched along the edges, a small crop in the shape of a diamond had been made in the front beneath the chest area so a small patch of skin could be revealed, beneath that just an inch below was a line of the same light blue from before, the bottom half was a pleated peplum waist. She turned it around slowly to look a the back where the straps twisted over one another to create a simple x, not covering the shoulder or a small triangle shaped patch below until it connected with the bottom half again.

Beneath it was another shirt, this one a bright sea-green. At first it looked more simple and not as showy until she lifted it up and looked down to see it stopped just before her belly button and that the bottom was lace in a triangle vine design that was thin and had little holes of various sizes where you could see skin further up the stomach if she were to put it on. The short sleeves had fringes at the end, and the top dipped into a deep v that was sure to even show the little cleavage she had.

She set the two back down quickly to realise that was the only shirt selection he had given her. She picked up the next article, gray lace shorts with a scalloped hem, she tugged at the band to find it was elastic. After a couple moments of staring at it, since it really did look cute she set it aside to grab for the other bottoms. Which were simple white jean leggings.

Moving them off the pile a red tinge quickly came to her cheeks and over her face. Makishima had picked _these_ out for _her_ to wear? The single bra was a deep red, and when she reached out to touch the fabric she found the inner part was cotton while the outside was lace. There were small rips in the fabric that had obviously been made intentionally by the designer, frills at the edge of those rips. The strips between them were filled in by a thin see-through black. The top was more slanted down with a thin peice of fabric with a small black butterfly as a front clasp keeping it together. She pulled it up by one of the straps to see a matching pair of panties as well. Red, with similar rips, an imprint of a black butterfly centered in the middle. Putting the two at the side she found a light blue frilly laced boyshorts as the last piece brought in for her.

She sat back on her heels looking over the small yet revealing selection. Okay, the jeans weren't revealing but once she had them they would be hugging the curves of her legs and hips not to mention her ass. Besides that it was all very revealing. The fact that Makishima had picked these out confused her greatly. What was he not just a psychopath but a in the closet pervert as well or something? Okay, he was a guy which really answered that question in itself. Still her skin crawled at the thought of putting the undergarments on. Had he imagined her wearing them? She reached slowly for the blue panties then grabbed the white jeans, her hand hesitated over the shirts. Which one? She was sure she had never thought so much about her clothes before this instant. She felt the inside of both the shirts in the chest area and found the black tank had a slight extra padding and picked that one so she wouldn't have to use the bra.

Akane quickly dressed into the change of clothes after making sure she was dry, hanging the towel back up in the bathroom she started walking around the room. She was conflicted over even seeing Makishima, on one hand she wanted to yell at him, on the other she wanted to go off and hide in the tub with the curtain drawn so he wouldn't see her. All that aside she wanted to get out of here before tomorrow came.

Her feet directed her over to the door and she stared at the knob for a long moment before reaching a hand out hesitantly to grab at it and start twisting slowly. She squeezed her eyes shut continuing to turn her hand expecting to run into preasure soon but instead she heard a soft click. Eyes snapping open she stared down at the turned knob and pulled the door open peeking her head out into a dark hallway made of similar stone from her room. Slowly she stepped out and closed the door softly behind her. Akane was filled with a sense of freedom and accomplishment on her part. Looking down both sides of the hall to see the left led to a dead end while the right had a spiral staircase heading up she turned right.

She slipped her hand onto the metal railing and peered up between the stair grates trying to see what she would run into. For all she knew Makishima could be heading down right now... Akane shook her head hard. She shouldn't be thinking like that. Out of the room, now just get out of the house and we can go from there she thought to herself. We being her and her mind. She just hoped it didn't open out onto a street or else she would immedietly feel underdressed. Cursing Makishima in her head once more she started up the stairs being sure to keep her footsteps light.

Reaching the landing and what she presumed to be the first floor she glanced around quickly, making a small spin in a circle since it opened up in the middle of a room. The room itself was circular with three closed doors positioned along the wall that otherwise contained old artwork. Moving slowly to the closest door she turned the knob hesitantly. Please, oh please, don't be on the other side of this one she prayed. Swinging the door open silently she glanced into the room to see it was a sort of inside green house. She stepped in quickly and closed the door behind her trying her best not to get caught.

She caught a whiff of roses, daffodils, and other various flowers. There were a few trees as well with vines curling up around to the walls and ceiling, the climate in here was warm and she welcomed the feel on her cold skin. Moving through the mini forest around bushes she reached a door at the other end and opened it slowly, peering through a crack to check what it was. A hallway. She swung the door open the rest of the way.

Glancing down the long walkway she looked to her right and saw that a door with windows nearby looking outside. She hurried over to look through the glass and had to surpress a groan.

A forest expanded infront of her eyes in every direction, with no city buildings in sight. She was somewhere in the country side probably many miles away from the city since she could see the sky was darkening ahead of her she pushed her face closer ot the glass trying to see anylight in the distance, there was none. In the middle of nowhere. That was just perfect. She couldn't just go out the front door like she had planned, Akane needed to find where the cars were kept and get herself into one, but she had no idea what this layout was. It was also getting dark and she was sure that was when Makishima went to see her.

Her breath came quick as her thoughts and emotions grew conflicted of what she should do. It wasn't very likely he would forget to lock the door twice so this had to be her oppurtunity. Cars were big how hard could it be to find one? Unless this place was large and so far it felt that way to her. Looking back down the hall she tried to figure out which door looked like it would lead to a garage of all things of held a hall that went in the general direction she needed to go in.

A dull thump sent her heart racing, her ears ringing like thunder had clapped overhead. Turning from the window she moved quickly back to the door and opened it slipping back into the green room. She fought to keep her feet silent on the floor as she got back to the room that held the staircase feeling her heart pounding in her chest. Everything seeed to pass in blurs until she was halfway down the staircase and her leg twisted awkwardly beneath her as she was turning. She held back a pained noise but fell forward, knee banging into the metal rail as she caught into it so she wouldn't go tumbling down the stairs. The footsteps in the room overhead were suddenly getting louder faster as she clung to the metal trying to catch her breath. Putting a hand on her leg she forced herself to move again down the stairs, she got off but had already heard other steps on the metal.

She gasped as a hand shoved her up against a stone wall using her shoulder as leverage. "Little bird," his voice sent her legs shaking and she would have collapsed to the ground had he not been holding her up. "what are you doing outside of your cage?"

She bit into her lip aware of her voice trembling as she spoke but unable to stop it. "I-it was unlocked. The door-" Not able to stop herself she broke into a sob the thoughts that had filled her head in the shower coming back to her full force. "Please, please," she begged, "don't kill me. I won't leave the room again, please." She sniffed, body trembling, waiting to be hit or thrown back inside without another word.

There was a tugging at her arm and she followed the direction he took her in slowly, trying to stifle her cries. Hearing that familiar click she knew she was being put back into the room and she walked in after him. The hand fell from her arm and she glanced infront of her to notice he wasn't there and that she could hear him moving back out of the room. She whimpered softly and caught her breath as the footsteps stopped short.

The cold air in the room was rushing over her skin again. Hearing the footsteps coming back towards her it sent her body shaking even harder. Oh please no, leave me alone. Warm. Her shoulders suddenly felt warm as hot breath fell upon the skin and along the back of her neck. She shivered from the sensation, turning her head slightly trying to see him standing behind her. Her simple action stopped when she felt a finger touch the back of her neck and trace down her spine until the straps and their x got in the way. Her breath wooshed out of her in a single breath at the foreign feeling. The shaking subsided to small shivers as his finger moved over the strip of clothing to continue down the spine stopping again at the bottom half of the shirt.

Suddenly the warm prescence disapeared and she could hear him walking away again, a clear firm sound of the door closing and the loud click and jingle of the knob signaling it was locked again.

Her legs finally gave out on her. She collapsed onto the ground, pressing her forehead against the cool floor.


	5. Chapter 5

_- attack_

**Sooo here it is! There's a refrence in here if you can find it... to a very old show or movie... i never actually saw the show so i don't know but i think it's in there to... Have fun!**

She had finally settled against the wall, with her legs stretched out infront of her, staring across the room at the lamp that had been filled again upon her waking up. Her arms were laying lifeless at her sides as if she was already dead. After having taken a shower this morning, changing into the other set of clothing and therefore being forced to wear the red butterfly pair, checking the door again even though she knew there was no way he would have accidentally left it unlocked again after yesterday, she found herself bored out of her mind.

As entertaining as the old fashioned chessboard was there was only so many times she could continuosly play against herself and pretend the pieces were people and have them talk to eachother. She had also learned something today because of that. Akane Tsunemori had a very bad english accent and couldn't talk chess strategy for the life of her. So now she was sitting down just thinking over the events of yesterday until she got to bored doing that and went back to knights roaming across a field of black and white grass.

She was actually very confused. What was going on in Makishima's mind? He hadn't quite seemed himself yesterday. Usually he had a conversation with her and yet after getting her back into the room and locking the door he hadn't come back. It was starting to drive her up the wall. Not only that but he hadn't just left. A shiver ran down her spine just from the memory of his finger on her back tracing over the bone.

First he had touched her lips, then the promiscuous clothing, now her back. She almost wondered if she was being courted in some sick twisted way. If that was the case though she liked it. She hadn't had time in school for a boyfriend and work kept her busy now. So she hardly actually understood what went on in a relationship, normally that is. Her only experience with the whole thing was when her friends had gone out and told her of their dates and what had happened.

The thing was, neither of them had ever been kidnapped then felt up by a criminal who had told them he was going to kill them the next day. She bit into her lip trying to figure out why he had only ever said two sentances to her all of yesterday. In a corner of her mind she was hoping he was rethinking the killing her issue.

It wasn't something she should really be worrying about what with the plans waiting for her today but she just couldn't seem to cry anymore. Maybe she just didn't have any more tear ducts to tap into. Or perhaps on some level she had come to terms with it. Of course she also still had trust placed in her teammates to find her. It's just that she would rather not be partially sliced open already when they arrived, or whatever it was Makishima was going to do to her.

**/ / /**

The car bumped over the old gravel road with ravines rather than simple sinkholes scarring the surface. The three Enforcers within just stared at the metal walls rather than looking at eachother. This was how most rides in the vehicle went, quite. With no one moving even a centimeter or speaking for that matter.

Even the air was still this time round. Taking the blood and bits of her flesh to the scanners hadn't revealed anything. Which meant Makishima thought he had given them enough information to find him and was now simply mocking all of thing was that it was all so vague. It was like he didn't want them to find him, like he wasn't giving them a chance. For all the knew they had read the second clue wrong. Maybe it was south and east they should have been searching.

For now they had gotten a lead on the criminal who had killed the man and obviously left her blood at the scene as a request to Makishima. Which meant he must have met him somewhere to collect it. Of course holding a captive was normally an easy feat but for the most part they stayed in the area where the prisoner was being held incase something went wrong fast. This criminal, Gorou Daiki surely had to know something that could give them a better lead.

The sensation of moving had stopped, a few seconds later the doors opened revealing the metal plate leading down to the ground. Kogami stood up first and walked out going straight toward the box to grab one of the Dominators.

Ginoza had already grabbed his own. "Third floor," the Inspector said in a commanding voice, "room three hundred twenty two. You don't shoot him with the Dominator unless your life is threatened otherwise we'll be interogating him right here."

Kogami had barely waited for the others to get their own guns and for Ginoza to stop the speech. As if he was an idiot to kill the guy before getting the needed information from him. He wasn't going to let Tsunemori die. With that thought in mind he stormed the apartment building, going straight up the stairs rather than use the elevator. His steps only quieted when he hit the third floor checking the numbers quickly so he wasn't turned around. He could hear the others coming down from the seperate ends of the hallway and kicked the door open, rushing inside.

"Come out with your hands in the air!"

His shout echoed around the room, one that so obviously belonged to the killer. There was medical instruments threwn around the room and bags that would have specific places for each different one. Other than those tools the room was spotless. It clicked in his mind that the killer had been getting ready to go out and kill someone else.

Other feet stamped into the room and the four slowly spread out through the apartment; doors being kicked open, shouted requests for him to come out of hiding. According to the electric paneling in the room he had come in yesterday and hadn't left at all today, so Daiki had to be in here somewhere. This would be a lot easier if the criminal came out from where ever he was hiding.

"Ginoza." Mazaoka called from one of the rooms and the other Enforcers followed the Inspector into the kitchen. The oldest Enforcer nodded down at a body on the ground. "He's already dead." There was a flash of frustration across Ginoza's face. Kogami felt anger pumping through his veins. This was starting to get ridiculous.

**/ / /**

He was moving down the stairs slowly beating himself up mentally for the other day. Actually forgetting to lock the damn door. It was so amateur. The fact that she was checking it everytime he left annoyed him. Tsunemori was trying to leave. Other victims had tried similar things before but this time it really bothered him in more than just an annoyed now-I-have-to-chase-them-down sort of way. He didn't want her to leave or even think about it. If he hadn't made the plans for today he would just beat it into her mind, that there was no chance of her getting away so she would stop trying.

It shouldn't take to much either. She was already terrified of him, the girl had begged for her life before. Normally it would have sent thrills down his spine and anticipation of the kill but instead he kept wanting to raise his hand from her shoulder and touch her cheek, rub her back, comfort her. Being up close when she was trembling like that had been exhilerating. Normally she was further away when that happened and it was almost nice to be closer to her. If only he had been able to enjoy her fear instead of wanting her back in the room to try and calm her down.

It wasn't as big a deal since she had gone back towards the room rather than running away. It made it easier for him anyways. Though he knew she had only gone back down to try and hide the fact that she had gotten out and was able to look around. It created hope in the prisoners more times than not and he wanted to crush that emotion from her. No hope in getting out of her situation, no way. He wanted to make sure she knew that and then he could see that realisation in her eyes and drink it in. Like honey.

Gritting his teeth he grabbed the door and quickly unlocked it, pulling it open to just stop and stare at the scene infront of him. Akane was crouched down on the floor with some of the chess pieces and had a knight in her hand currently galloping across the stone floor towards a group of pawns. His eyes were drawn to the top of her shirt at first he could just see the top of her breasts at this angle. Then she was speaking, and of all things it was in an english accent. Not a very good one either.

"The way is clear soldiers! Go! Hurry and assault them!" Makishima blinked as she grabbed for the other pieces and made it so they were charging forward towards a wall of other chess pieces. "Dodge the spear! Dodge the spear Will Robinson!"

He slowly raised his hand to tap at the wood door. Her head snapped up so fast he thought it might fall off. Akane's mouth fell open then closed repeatedly as she stood up and started shifting on her feet obviously uncomfortable. Her eyes were wide and that familiar blush had appeared again. Apparently he wasn't suppose to have seen that. "I-" she finally managed, "You... didn't see anything? Or hear? Right?"

At her stuttering he forced himself not to grin. "Of course not." He reasured her. "For the first ten seconds I walk into a room I conveniently go blind and deaf." Makishima distracted himself from the clear sight of her long legs by reaching into his pocket to take out the syringe. Just like last time he was satisfied that she had put the clothes on not that he had given her much of a choice. He made a small mental note that she must be wearing the matching pair with that outfit. He tapped at the side of the syringe noticing her wide eyes snap to his hands. Her shifting feet started edging backwards.

As cooperative as she had been with her arm he doubted she would let him take her upstairs to the room he had set up with the equipment to kill her with. Much less get up onto the metal table willingly to be strapped down. The contents of the syringe was a simple knockout drug that would barely last for ten minutes. He would have to work fast but he had done things like this before and no issues had come up then.

"I'll fight you." Akane half-shouted at him and at this he smirked. She had started to tremble again the blush was slowly draining from her cheeks. He glanced toward her eyes and noticed her body freeze up for a second, her bottom lip had started to quiver and he had barely heard a soft outtake of breath. His smirk just grew from her reactions even if he wasn't entirely sure why.

"That's fine." Makishima said walking further into the room and watching her take a step back for every one he took forward. She suddenly stopped and ran over to the chess stand and chairs. He watched passively as she stood behind the chair. As if having a piece of furniture between them was going to stop him. Grabbing the one chair that he had sat in before he threw it across the room watching her flinch as it hit the wall, the sound of wood breaking filling the room. Now only the stand and her own chair stood between them.

She looked down at her own and curled her hands around the sides apparently having realised it wasn't nailed to the floor. Though the stand was. He doubted she knew that. "Why don't we rethink this?" She was still trembling as she spoke, "I know! We could play the game where you stab my arm! Remember? That was a fun game. Let's play that game instead of doing this."

He was silent for a moment remembering how terrified she had looked that time. She hadn't seemed very thrilled which really just contradicted her words now. "I don't think so. I like the killing game." A pained look flashed across her face at those words.

"No really. I mean if we think together I'm sure we can come up with something better than the killing game. Like, like, ummm..." She had begun to trail off and he noticed the distracted look in her eyes as she tried to think of something to probably get out of this.

Her hands were still firmly wrapped around the chair though and he didn't really want to be hit with it. "Tsunemori." He spoke softly having memorized her reactions to all the other times he had said her name.

His feet were already moving toward her as her hands went slack and she glanced over at him with a glazed over look in her eyes. "huh?" she made a small questioning noise as he reached out to yank the chair from her and throw it where it would land with the other trashed one. The glazed look melted away quickly and she made something similar to a squeak as she scrambled backwards, tripping over her own feet in a hurry to get away from him. He simply reached out to grab her wrist firmly keeping her from falling backwards but also so that he could take the syringe in his other hand to drive into her arm and push down on the plunger so the contents could go into her blood stream. "No!" Her shout died halfway through and her body slumped forward toward him.

Taking out the syringe to put ontop of the chess table he caught her a second later. Picking her up he turned and walked out from the room making his way quickly up the stairs to turn and kick open the door on the far right. Going inside he set her on the metal table surrounded by various knives, sharp surgeon tools, and other sharp objects. Turning he went to gather up some of the rope and went to tie her wrists together and bring them over her head further along the table where a small circle was where he tied her hands to. A similar one was near her feet and he tied her ankles together before attaching it to the table. Having properly restrained her he went to go and and get his water he had left in the library.

When he came back she was starting to shift slowly on the table. He stopped out of her sight range on her far left so he could watch her expression when she inevitablly woke up. Her head lolled to one side and she was grumbling softly, eye lids flickering she groaned. "Lights from hell." He smirked at the comment on the flourescent lights hanging above the table bearing light down at her. Her eyes suddenly snapped open and she started tugging at her wrists, fingers twisting to try and reach them but failing, just wiggling in the air. Useless.

He stepped closer to see the clear panic in her eyes. Her gaze snapped toward him and a whimper immedietly cut the air. He smiled pleasantly. "How do you feel?" he asked loving her reactions so far.

She thrashed on the table, moving the half-centimeter that she could move from being stretched across the table. Realising it was a lost cause she started talking in that familiar rambling sort of way. "Don't do this. Wouldn't it be fun to give them more time-" she cut off at his dark gaze for a moment then started up again. "No, no. I didn't mean that. Scratch it from your mind. Ummm, how about-" she stopped to blink at him when he walked forward and grabbed one of the knives.

Makishima just smiled at her quieting the words she had started to speak which sounded like the start of another round of lame excuses. He lowered his hand towards her skin letting it hover over her trembling form. His gaze went on the strip of her stomach showing and he pressed the flat of the blade down onto it watching as she trembled harder and started whimpering making small noises that were obviously supposed to be words but never quite came out correctly. He went to turn his hand so the blade would meet flesh and found his whole arm had frozen up. His eyes narrowed and Akane whimpered even louder, tears collecting in the corners of her eyes to start trickling down her face.

He slowed his already calm breathing attempting to put preasure on the metal blade but he was distracted. His eyes went back to her face to see her eyes squeezed closed as she sniffed and made crying noises. Loosening his grip slowly from the knife he slipped his hand away stopping short when he saw the knife settle more on the skin and two small thin red lines formed on either side of the blade since the edges were so sharp. His mouth started to open and he quickly clamped it shut quietly, the words i'm sorry almost slipping from him. Another whimper filled with a mix of pain brought his eyes back to her face. The tears were rolling down fast and he reached out slowly to cup one side of her face and draw a thumb over her cheek collecting numerous tears on his skin. She cried out when his skin came in contact with hers sniffling louder. He couldn't take it anymore. Makishima just wanted her to _shut up_. Bringing his other hand to the other side of her face to keep her in place he leaned down pressing his lips down onto hers.


	6. Chapter 6

_- poison_

**Hope the cliffhanger didn't leave two little marks on anyone's stomach. I hear it hurts. Also I have a key for you all, / = pov change, 0 / = time skip. the latter won't be used to often.**

Dark. She couldn't see or feel anything, Akane felt like she was floating in the black sea with waves rolling her back and forth. Her body moving effortlessly in any direction it requested of her. The coiling tides started to slow, and slowly-very slowly-her mind started to peer through the thick cloud in her mind.

A dull thud echoed in her ears as she breathed out when her eyes drifted open. Her mind felt foggy again, like it had barely a minute ago it seemed. She hissed softly, grabbing for her head. The movement felt sluggish, it seemed to take forever for her hand to reach it's mark. The drug was still affecting her. It hadn't taken this long for her to come out of this state before, maybe that's because there was nothing to shock her out of it like before. The light in this room wasn't bright, it was soft and didn't hurt to look at she found. Her head wasn't pounding from it and her vision wasn't blurring. There was no scratchy feeling around her wrists or ankles.

Her gaze had fallen onto the oil lamp. It took her a second to realise where she was. That room, her own personal dungeon. She was back inside of it and she hoped it was for good. Akane never wanted to face that sort of terror again. The fear of being cut open and the way she had broken down infront of him after promising herself she would stand strong until the very end. She hadn't been able to keep the promise. Pulling at her hair with the one hand she groaned and twisted on her side.

Strong.

That's what she had told herself she would be, for the others, but really, most importantly, for herself. She had failed at it. The tears were rushing from her again. _Come to terms with it_, she scoffed. No one in their right mind could ever come to terms with their death. No matter what they said or thought, it was all terrifying and to condone yourself to a place without touch, smell, the other three basic senses. How could one do that to themself?

Someone that is strong.

The whimper that passed her lips convinced her further of what a coward and weakling she was. If only she could have owned up to her death. Instead she had been begging-well, trying to. She hadn't been able to get any of the words out to tell him to stop. But he had.

Her eyes slowly opened once again to look around the room quickly. With a sniff she rubbed at her eyes to get rid of the evidence. Not that it mattered. He wasn't there. A small part of her noticed that the remains of the chairs were no longer there either but she could hardly focus on those minute details.

She was snapped back into that moment that felt like it had been minutes ago-no hours. No, it was... it was... she couldn't remember how long but it couldn't have been much. He had moved so fast.

Makishima had been glaring daggers down at her form on the table as she shook beneath it. The feel of metal on her exposed flesh that felt like it was still there even now. The look of frustration that had flashed across his face scared her the most and that's when she had closed her eyes not able to watch him cut into her. At first she hadn't been sure he had done anything then the weight of the blade seemed to fall down on her. It took her a moment to realise where she had been cut, the two places felt shallow and she knew they must have been, but as she breathed heavily and fast the blade cut slightly into them again with each breath. Her cries had started with that feeling in mind. She had wanted to scream so badly and she was almost positive that she had. All she could think of in those first moments was that he was sawing her open or slowly cutting into her to draw it out. Make her cling to life, bleeding, up until that moment.

The feel of his warm hand on her face had shocked her and she knew she had uttered more than a sob. A cry of agony if she was any judge. To others it wouldn't probably feel that bad, yet somehow those small cuts and the repeated brushing of the blade had hurt her more than a stupid nail going at bullet speed to land in her leg ever could. Maybe she was low-tolerant on pain. Maybe it had something to do with the area. She knew the fingers and hands hurt a lot from something as simple as a paper cut. It had been like that but a million times worse. How much nerves were even near the stomach? It didn't matter. The simple idea that he was going to kill her seemed to put her senses into overdrive. That must have been why a little thing like that felt so bad. Damn, she really hated how the human body worked in that moment.

Even more so when his thumb traced the curve of her cheek and she could feel the hot tears moving with it. She had just wanted to lean into his touch and cry until everything was over, until it all stopped. Until the world stopped spinning and the sun became a black hole to eat it up. Then her other cheek had become warm as well and warmth seemed to flood through her. It had all felt so gentle in terms of torture. When something soft and warm brushed her lips it had sent her eyes open in a single beat of a humming bird's wings.

His eyes, like liquid gold bored down into her like drills and her breath was taken away from the beauty of them. How could something-someone so perfect looking not be? Her head had risen slightly with his when he started to pull away and she had immiedetly been forced back down. The preasure of his lips on hers drove her crazy. It felt good. Her wrists had hurt more suddenly as she had strained against the restraints to no avail to put them on him in a similar fashion to how he held her. The hot wet feel of his tongue tracing over her mouth had caused her to open it and make a noise. She still wasn't fully sure what it had been but she regretted doing it even though she felt she had no control over herself at that point. She was just aware that she was warm and that she wanted to be burning right next to him, searing white, like a newborn star. But he had pulled away right then, staring down at her. There had been a clear look of confusion across his face and then she felt it.

The sharp sting in her upper arm. The syringe being plunged back in. The darkness seeping back into her and taking her away from the beautiful angel in front of her. Her lips had been moving, the voice coming out from them soft as if rolling in from a warm summer breeze. Her own tongue moving with the sound until it fell slack.

_"Maki-"_

"shima." she finished outloud into the soft lighted room, the stone walls stealing her words into them refusing to let them bounce from one wall to another. She turned onto her back drawing in one breath after another slowly. Her fingers were shaking as she reached down to touch her stomach hesitantly, searching for the scars. She flinched a second later when her hand came in contact with the same soft silk around her leg and arm still. The fabric has been pushed slightly into the wound when she touched it. It felt a little weird, like there was gel beneath it or something... skin protectant? She relaxed a little at this knowledge.

He kept healing her wounds. That had to be good, right?

Akane, she tried to rationalize with herself, he's also the one hurting you. He suffocated you on the tower, used the chess game to distract you just to cut your arm, just a short time ago he was about to kill you, he's using you to get at Kogami, he makes you feel-stop.

She raised her hands to cradle her head. If her stomach wasn't trying to heal she would of sat up but she wasn't sure she could manage moving much at all right now and was rather thankful that she was on her rug with her head ontop of the pillow. She bit into her lip slightly. He had put her there like that, it was so sweet. Blinking for a moment she saw his confussed expression again hovering over her. It had looked genuine. The fact that he had put her under barely a second later though still freaked her out. She didn't understand that at all.

She had been enjoying herself. Well, she had been enjoying the kiss. Personally she could have done without what had happened before that. Plus she would have liked it more if it hadn't stopped so suddenly. She finally understood what her friends had talked about when they went out. It was all so wonderful.

Resting her cheek back on the fluffy surface of the pillow she kept the memory of his lips on hers at the forefront of her mind as she drifted into sleep.

**0 / 0 / 0 / 0**

Akane was pacing her room for the umpteenth time within the past two days. Makishima hadn't come down once the whole time. She knew because nothing had changed from the first time she woke up back in here. There was the addition of a mini fridge over in a corner and another pile of clothes had appeared. After having looked at the the fridge and it's contents she had looked at the clothes to see they were like the others in the style of showy. She found herself liking the fact that they showed off her body yet were never to extreme. The only thing that was disapointing was not being able to show Makishima. She wanted him to see her all dressed up in the clothes he had given her, looking pretty, sexy.

She stalked over to the door glaring at it. Why wasn't he coming down to see her? Heck if he came down to stab her arm again she would be happy-up until the stabbing part that is. A frown had settled over her face, arms crossed over her chest. After a second of thinking over it, knowing he hadn't come down the other times she had done this she started back up again anyways, "Makishima!" she shouted at the top of her lungs and waited a couple seconds hoping to hear footsteps but of course there were none.

Frustration flowed through her and she rushed towards the door to start banging her hands against the dark wood. "Makishima! I know you can hear me! Open this door!" She kicked it for good measure. "I can keep doing this all day! It's not like anyone will hear since this place is located in the middle of a damn forest! And I'm underground! So you can't tell me to stop it! Now open this door!" She hit the door extra hard at the end of each sentance as she yelled.

She kept the hitting up for a good ten minutes before shouting again, "Shogo Makishima! Open this door right now!" Suddenly the door was racing at her and she hopped back quickly to refrain from getting hit by it. She started to mutter angrily when her eyes fell on the person she had been calling for multiple times throughout the last two days. He was staring at her with an outright death glare. Her mouth stopped functioning the moment her gaze settled on him. It was such a relief to see him that the anger in her had evaporated but her shoulders started to tremble from his eyes on her.

When he took a step toward her she stepped back. His eyes narrowed, a hand drawing out the knife from his pocket and she froze on the spot her lips parting briefly for a whimper to slip out. She found herself unable to move as he approached but she was still capable of talking, "Th-the killing game should really be restricted to upstairs." Her whole body started trembling when he grabbed her wrist, pulling it toward him. She started to flinch and blinked instead when the soft feeling of cotton was wrapped around her knuckles. Akane looked down to see his hands around hers while he twisted the fabric around her fingers to soak up the blood. Her hands were bruised and cut up from beating on the door. She stood still as he continued to stop the bleeding after cleaning it up. Then he cut up clean strips of cotton to wrap around each individual finger tying them so they stayed on. "Ummm," she started feeling the need to apologize as he slipped the knife back into the pocket.

"Sit." His voice was low and she glanced up at him wondering what she had done to make him angry. She turned slowly and walked over to where a pair of new chairs had been set around the chess stand, and these were nailed to the floor. Akane sat down and waited for him to start speaking again, staring down at her hands clasped together in her lap. "What's your relationship with Shinya Kogami?"

"Huh?" Her head shot up, tearing her gaze from her twitching fingers to land on him. "My... relationship with Kogami?" She hadn't expected that. Akane bit her lip nervously before answering the rather random question. "Well, I," she frowned slightly, "I'm an Inspector and it's my job to keep tabs on him when he's out in the city. Kogami and Mazaoka are usually placed under my care, while Kagari and Yayoi are with Ginoza." She waited for a moment and when he made no comment she started up again, "He's a work partner and friend-" she hesitated when his gaze suddenly narrowed again, "-who gives me advice about the job since he used to be an Inspector and then..." She trailed off unsure how to word it without the man infront of her coming off as a bad guy cause she wasn't completely sure if he was anymore.

"Aren't you worried that you'll eventually be demoted as well?" Makishima finally spoke when she didn't say anything else for an extended amount of time.

Akane blinked at him, "No. I'm not." When he gave her a questioning look she quickly explained, "It's just not something I worry about. I've never worried about my hue or crime coefficent before and it's never been an issue before so I just don't think about it. Candy tells me every morning what my hue is of course but it's never been more than powder blue. I did a memory scoop after Yuki..." She stopped to shift her hands and clasp them together squeezing tightly before she continued not able to say what had happened, "so we could have a real identification of you."

"So the others could know what I looked like. Doing something so brash and knowing what the consequences were, you still did it anyway?" Looking into his eyes instead of random facets of his face she thought she noticed a spark of curiosity in them.

She sighed. "Everyone was against it." She could still remember Ginoza trying to stop her even while she sat on the table. "Someone from the team told Kogami and he tried to call me before the scoop happened but I didn't answer it. When it was done our Analyst later told me my crime coefficent had reached a high of seventy nine but that it went back down fast." Her brow crinkled after a moment. "How come you asked about me and Kogami?"

"To know what your relationship with him was." A second passed and she opened her mouth to ask again thinking that couldn't be the only reason. "If," she closed her jaw looking at him expectantly, "you had ever been close with him, kissed him, among other things." Her mind immedietly went to the time she had been in the training room with him, watching Kogami beat up on a robot, her eyes always moving towards his muscles as he moved. He had been all sweaty too, she had found herself attracted to him in that moment he just looked so good and she had begun to feel a bit warm. "And you did."

"Huh?" she glanced over at him coming out of the reminescence. "Wha-no. We never did anything like that. Didn't kiss or anything-"

"You like him." She started to tremble from not only the anger in his voice but the killing aura that seemed to surround him all of a sudden. Her eyes caught that he had brought the blade out again and kept flicking it closed and open repeatedly.

Her shoulders shook. "It's not like that. It's not like what I feel for you." she regretted the words the moment they slipped past their lips. You idiot! She wanted to hit herself even while she noticed the blade stop mid motion and Makishima just seemed to be staring at her. Come on, distraction, something! Her cheeks were starting to get warm and she forced her head down. She bolted out of her chair a moment later, if it hadn't been nailed to the floor it surely would have fallen to the stone ground with the force. Her hands wrapped themselves into tight fists at her sides. "What the hell took so long to answer a damn door anyways and then ask me stupid questions?" she snapped the first thing that came to mind. "I should be the one asking the questions here! Like, why am I still alive in the first place? Do you just suck at the killing game or something! It's been about a week! If you gave my unit accurate information they should have found me before now! Or do you not want them to find me?" She sucked in a breath after her long tirade. Her throat felt soar from screaming so much today.

The silence in the room quickly got to her though and she glared at him, slapping her now open palms down onto the surface of the stand between them. "If I'm going to be here I'm might as well do something productive for myself! You saw me on the tower-" her voice faltered for a moment but she quickly got the steel back in her voice, "it's ridiculous that I can't defend myself! I saw what you did to the Hound. Teach me how to fight so I'm not in here pacing all the time bored out of my mind!"

"Fine." The single word seemed to echo in her mind and she blinked at him. "Be ready for tomorrow Inspector." Makishima had gotten up from his own seat and was starting for the door.

She suddenly felt hollow at his last sentance, her eyes had started that familiar burn. "I have a name you know! So use it!" Akane shouted angrily after him. The door clicked shut in response and she stood there for a moment. It worked. Right? Then a trail of scalding water was running down her cheek and she slowly sank to the ground before crawling over to her rug and pushing her face into the fluffy surface. Grabbing the pillow she pulled it over her head. She had to be the biggest idiot out there.

**/ / /**

Shogo sat himself back in the chair he had occupied for awhile now. Atleast now he wouldn't have to listen to her screaming even if it was muffled from the floor and various walls seperating them. He had begun to wish the library was further away from her room.

He couldn't believe she still got scared of him. When he walked toward her she looked like she thought he was going to kill her. She had been right about him not being able to kill her though. He just hoped she hadn't come to any conclusion as to why she was still alive since he hadn't answered her question and didn't plan to. Actually she hadn't given him any time to answer any of the questions between all her screaming. The loud yelling he could do without but he liked how she looked. Suddenly all fierce.

It didn't make him forget the earlier conversation though about Shinya Kogami. She had kept saying how they were co-workers and then friends, which evidently pissed him off. He didn't want her anywhere near the Enforcer especially since he had seen that look in the dog's eyes at the tower. There was no way the 'hound' just thought of her as a friend. As if he would let her leave so she could be taken by that pup.

Even if she had saidthat. He accused her of liking him and she came back with whatever she felt for the dog not being the same as what _she_ felt for him. His hand curled around the glass of water he held, it shattered a moment later and he dabbed the little slices of blood away looking out the window at the forest.

He had agreed to her outrageous request too. Teaching her how to fight, well he could always fantasize about her beating up the dog when he made a move on her. Not that that would ever happen. He rested his hand back down on the table. She simply wasn't leaving this place. Not leaving him.


	7. Chapter 7

_- cage_

**Sorry for the wait, blame the power outages. Enjoy the latest chapter/installment/other words that mean the same thing.**

He had set up a room an hour ago for the fighting lesson, which basically meant he moved everything to the side of one of the many rooms. Makishima was now sitting in that room looking around the open space slowly so he could glare at every inch of it. What had possessed him to say yes to her in the first place? He tried to go over what had happened again but he just saw her standing infront of him, hands curled into fists, the harsh sound as they came in contact with the stand, her eyes burning with a sudden rage that didn't actually reach them rather they kept swimming with other emotions as she yelled.

Makishima leaned back into the chair pressing a hand to his forehead and rubbing the skin lightly. That woman was distracting him. He should have just squeezed harder back at the tower to kill her. Then he wouldn't have to be going through any of this right now. Not the weird little things he walked in on her doing, the adorable look she took on whenever he said her name, her blush, and everything else she did that only she could do in such a way. If he could just get the memories of the few times he had touched her soft skin and the one time he had kissed her on those pretty pink lips out of his mind. Then he could actually do what he had planned for the moment he had decided to take her with him from the tower. Then he could actually kill her and watch what happened to her teammates when they found her body all cold somewhere in the city.

Now his plan was ruined and he was fighting himself with the idea of staying in the country home so he could be with her. Or just have her stay here all the time even when he was out trying to take Sybil down. Which he still planned on doing. Once he got his current situation, situated-for lack of better word. Really, he just wanted to keep her all to himself. She was a shining jewel compared to all the rough stones in the city. There was also the fact that she seemed to be similar to him in the way of having a low psycho-pass and crime coefficent no matter what happened.

He had only met one other person like that, another criminal who was now just completely off the radar as if he had disapeared. He smiled at the memories before that though. Simply because it had taken forever in terms of the normal amount of time for the MWPSB to catch him. Makishima blinked as an idea hit him. Only if he ever needed her to though, then he would have her go back to the city. Afterall why would the Enforcers suspect their owner of commiting crimes in the city or even being against the system?

His smile slowly faded and he shook his head standing up from the chair. No. She belonged here where he could keep an eye on her, him alone. He didn't want anyone else to see her or interact with her. Especially Kogami he wanted to keep her away from that stupid dog. Away from any other man.

Glancing at the clock he figured he had given her enough time to get ready and find some sort of outfit that worked for it. He was actually looking forward to seeing what she had put together. Nothing he had given her was intended for fighting in. He hadn't thought of the possibility of her asking him to teach her. The fact that she had asked him though made him grin as he walked from the room towards the stairs that led down to her quarters. The corners of his lips curled back down.

Since when had he started thinking of her living space as permanent rather than temporary and not just a little box for the bird to beat her wings hopelessly inside? He was almost sure it had started back even in the first day she stayed here. His feelings were still mixed on as to why she kept her arm up, if it was bravery or cowardice that made her do it. He didn't exactly care about that anymore though. As long as she was here he could almost care less about what was going on elsewhere.

He pushed the door open after planting a snear on his face wanting to see if she would continue to say things about having feelings for him even if he continued to not show any for her. The facade slipped away a second later though as his eyes fell on her.

There was more than a few thoughts and questions that passed through his mind. The first simply wondering why whenever he opened this door that he could never predict what she was doing or even why to atleast prepare himself in some sort of way. Honestly, how long had she been sitting on the floor on her knees facing the door? Plus she looked almost guilty and he had to force back a smile from that expression on her face. His gaze trailed over the outfit she had picked out a glimmer of approval in his usually cold eyes. The shorts were one of the more simples ones and the dark tone of purple looked good on her. The shirt was tight fitting and he drank in the sight of her curves, the fact that it stopped midway down her stomach didn't escape his attenssion. Still, by ready he meant when he opened the door to get out right away so they could start immedietly. Then he could have her back in here earlier where he wouldn't have to keep an eye on her every second incase it was all a lure so she could find the transportation vehicles and get away.

Instead she was on the floor, face titlted up to look him in the eye before her head ducked back down quickly. He could just see a slight tinge to her cheeks and gave a little grin at the sight. There she goes again. Her small hands curled into fists and he prepared himself to be yelled at again though he couldn't imagine what it could possibly be for this time. She had her fighting practice coming up surely she was content now?

"Ah..." He could see her swallow lightly obviously trying to get up the courage to say something but his mind was partially stuck on the little indecisive noise she had made. It took him back to the table where he had her laid before him and she had made another noise. One that both made him unsure of what he had been doing yet want to continue. She had straightened her back now to look back up at him properly. "I'm sorry." He blinked at her prompting an explanation for the outburst. "For the other day," she had begun to talk quickly, "I shouldn't have reacted that way when you came into the room. I just, I didn't realise what your intentions were. You hadn't killed me before I shouldn't have thought that you would now. It's just... you're really scary looking when you're angry, you know?"

Makishima blinked unconciously before he offered up a smile at her words. He of course rather liked the fact that he could scare people so easily though that's certaintly not what he had meant to do the other day. When he had opened the door to see her all red faced eyes flashing in anger he had hardly paid attenssion to those details. His eyes had gone straight to her hands, bloodied up from hitting the door so much. She hadn't gotten that angry the other two days he had left her there alone. He had felt bad like he was responsible for the marks on her which he literally was for a few, but he didn't want to be for those ones.

Her face had softened and she seemed less distressed at his reasurance. "Also, I didn't mean to yell. Honestly, I don't quite know what came over me but I hadn't meant to do that either and I'm sorry." She dipped her head back down apparently looking towards the floor.

He continued to look at her when she didn't move for multiple seconds unaware of the the way his lips had curled into a softer version of his usual smiles. She was so cute. Actually getting so worked up over yesterday's incident and feeling bad enough about it to apologize for it. "Akane," when he said the name her head snapped up to stare at him with a sort of awed expression, then her head tilted very slightly and she directed a happy smile at him. Adorable, and he was suppose to control himself around her for the next few hours? She was going to make this difficult on him that was for sure. "It's okay. I'm not angry at you."

"Really?" She leaned forward slightly as she said the word and he noted that she had made no apology for saying she had feelings for him. Must not regret it or she just didn't want to mention it.

He took a second to decide he wouldn't either even if it would surely make her blush hard. "Yes." He said and made a motion with his hand, "Get up and we'll go to the room and start your training." Makishima waited for her to get up and get out of the room before he closed the door after telling her to start walking. He followed soon after making sure she walked infront of him so he could keep an eye on her easier and told her when and where to turn. Once she was in the room he motioned her to the center of what had been a simple sitting room an hour or so back.

She moved to the center and he circled her for a moment trying to think of a fighting style that would be good for her. Not very muscular since she was more on the slim side, the only part of her that looked like it could deliver a hit was her legs otherwise he would have to find her a suitable weapon. He stopped infront of her. "Just nod or shake your head. Understand?" A couple seconds passed before she nodded her head looking unsure. "Do you know how to punch?" Her mouth began to open but then she nodded. He took her hand anyways, fingers slipping along her wrist to feel her heart beating at a rapid pace before he took a moment to fiddle with her fingers and hand so the first four fingers were curled and her thumb was resting ontop of the last one at the side and out of the way. His hand slipped up her arm as he moved to her side his eyes glued to her chest as it rose and fell slowly. "Keep your hand like that, pull back your arm, then throw a punch." He talked slowly walking her though the movements while his hands made small changes to her posture to make the movement most effective. He raised his hand to draw her hand back again before moving back infront of her. "Got all that?" At her nod he raised his hands, open palms facing her. "Start."

His little bird seemed confused for a moment but then raised both hands up and started to hit at the targets he had given her. Each time she threw a punch he would point out any mistakes, tell her how to better it. He was also aware that even when she started to get the rythm the force of the blows still wasn't something he found to be fatal. That wasn't to say she was weak but he didn't find bruises to be much of a threat in combat. With a weapon it would be a different matter but today he wanted to try and go over as many basics as he could and have her know them by heart before moving on to anything remotely more complicated.

The next time she hit his hand he closed his fingers around her fist noting the surprise on her face. When the other shot came he twisted to the side letting her own momentum carry her forward as his hand slipped to her elbow along to her shoulder to give her a simple push that would put her more off balance then she already was. He watched as she crashed to the floor letting out a starteled yelp as her feet slipped beneath her, and then a pained cry as she met the wood boards. Makishima took his time walking over to her crumpled form. He stopped just infront of her looking down to meet her eyes that glared acussingly at him. "What was that for? Did I mess up that bad?"

He smiled when that familiar fire entered her eyes and crouched down infront of her grabbing her arms to help her back up as he replied simply, "You told me to teach you how to fight. Do you really think your opponent will just stand there and let you hit him?" Once she was back on her feet he drew his hands away quickly so they didn't linger on her. His eyes stayed glued on her though so he caught the few seconds that her bottom lip stuck out in a pout. He had to look away after that so he didn't bite that lip. "Let's try a kick next." Makishima turned back to her once he had the compulsion under control.

Leading her back to the middle of the room he tapped her leg with his foot to signal to her that she needed to spread her legs further apart. Once she had moved properly he crouched down next to her, working his fingers along the back of her leg for a moment so her muscles wouldn't be so tight. He gave a light tap to the back of her knee before his fingers wrapped around it and forced her foot to move more forward so she was in more of a battle stance than when she had been throwing punches. Getting back up he directed her just verbally through the kicks sometimes having his own leg strike forward to keep her movements in check. He made sure she switched up the legs each time and once she had two basic kicks down along with the movements to keep it all fluid he stopped her.

Standing infront of her again he said a simple, "Attack me." When she came at him he would move out of the way, dodging each blow easily. He waited for her movements to falter and till he saw the flash of frustration in her eyes before he made a move. Moving towards her he swept a leg out to kick her own out from under her, catching an arm he rotated in a half circle before sending her off towards the couch.

**/ / /**

Akane blinked as she was suddenly sailing through the air for the second time today. She braced herself for hitting the floor again but instead landed on a couch, though rather awkwardly. Her right arm had hooked itself over the back, her left was curled around the arm of the couch. Her legs were simply sprawled behind her. Her body twisted toward the furniture, she found herself looking at the fabric. Her whole body hurt in that moment. Arms and legs already sore from moving so much, plus she was sure she had developed bruises the first time and now those hurt even more from being slammed into this object. Even if it was softer than the floor.

Her mouth barely moved as she muttered an, "Ow." She stayed in her awkward position refusing to move herself since she could already hear his footsteps coming toward her. Turning her head slightly to glance over her shoulder she saw him standing there at the edge of the couch.

"I think that's enough for today." Makishima said while she looked him in the eye. She grumbled under her breath when he continued to just look at her as if expecting her to get up. Turning slowly and wincing from the way pain shot up her body she stayed laying on the couch looking at him, wanting him to help her up but he didn't seem to be going to do that. Akane frowned, she wanted to feel his hands on her again. Her body tingled just from the memory of when he had been grasping her arms, legs, the little taps or hands along her waist to get her to get the most out of her hits.

"Okay." She pushed herself up slowly wanting to see if she could make him help her down to the room atleast. Since she had slipped down the stairs when walking normally she highly doubted she could get down in one piece in her current state. Keeping her eyes on his she sat back on her legs and raised her arms up toward him. "Carry me?" she asked it slowly hesitant to say the words not sure what his reaction would be. When he just blinked she started to lower her hands when he moved forward and grabbed her. A gasp escaped her as an arm encircled around her waist rasing her up before another arm hooked beneath her legs. She wasn't sure if it was because she was surprised from him actually doing it or because her muscles were sore. Akane curled into his chest as he walked out of the room her heart beat going fast, echoing loudly in her ears as the last of sun light was hidden from her sight when he was back in that oval room with the stairs.

She pressed her face slowly against his chest, skin touching the soft white silk of his shirt. Akane closed her eyes breathing in and out slowly wanting to stay close to him for as long as she could. In fact she didn't want to go back into that room cause she knew he would leave then but she didn't know how to make him stay with her.

At the sound of the door opening her eyes opened to glance at the room. Biting at her lip she turned back towards him and when she felt his arms slipping her out from them she fought to stay up and close to him though since her body was in pain it didn't really result in much besides leaning closer to him. So ultimately she felt her bare feet touch the cold stone floor with her back to him rather than facing him like she wanted. She stayed still not wanting to move further in the room very aware that he was still standing behind her.

When the silence started to really stretch out she turned her head wanting to look at him. A hand on her shoulder stopped her and she found herself shivering from the small contact. Then a warm feeling passed over he ear and her whole body seemed to tremble from the feel of his breath there. She closed her eyes clamping her lips shut to stop the whimper from crawling up her throat. The feel of his finger trailing up the left side of her arm made her shiver and for a moment she hadn't even registered that he was speaking, though after the first word her eyes snapped open even as she felt his prescence go away and the door shut behind her she turned slowly to look at it. The words were repeating in her mind over and over, her heart pounding erratically in her head as his voice echoed in her mind in that soft whisper he had spoke in,

_"I love you."_


	8. Chapter 8

_- thunderclap_

**There's a small 'find-the-reffered book' game inside this chapter. And new point-of-view! ^.^ Have fun.**

**Warning: Your stomach may hurt while reading this chapter. (you thought I was going to say something else didn't you?)**

The alarms blared throughout Unit One's office before lowering in volume to where it stayed as an annoying background noise. Hands slammed onto the Inspector's desk and Ginoza looked up to see Kogami standing infront of him looking more pissed off than usual. A second alarm resounded through the room and both of them took a moment to glare at the speakers. When the noise had died down again Gino turned back to the Enforcer.

"If this is about going on your own again to search the answer is still no. Now get your hands off my desk and don't hit it again there's enough loud noise in here as it is."

Ko scoffed but took his hands off the Inspector's desk but still stayed standing there like Gino suspected he would. "We need to just go out and find her without any communication from Headquarters and their-" Another alarm blasted into the room cutting off the string of curses that had been spoken before even a remotely intelligent word came at the end. Kogami's face twisted into one of fury and his eye twitched.

A voice from a desk spoke up, "I'll go tell them we got the message." A chair scraped back against the tile and Gino watched Yayoi leave through the door to go to the front desk and tell them to shut up. He hoped for once she would yell at them instead of being polite about it, he doubted his wish would be filled.

He bent his head down for a moment and checked with his fingers that his ears weren't bleeding for the millionth time that day. How could they not be? It certainly felt like his ears should be bleeding and he had felt something dropping down across his neck the one time. That had just been sweat though from the air conditioning being down earlier that morning. With a sigh he glanced over at his father to see him staring at a computer screen playing some game that he was losing. Obviously the man was just eavesdropping on their conversation. Eyes moving back to Kogami he spoke slowly, "For the millionth to last time Kogami," he said intentionally being a little sarcastic about the matter, "you can't go on your own to search for Inspector Tsunemori." He was forced to hold a hand up to stop the Enforcer from interupting and went back to a more professional tone of voice. "You know the rules. An Inspector must be with you and I'm currently the only one here in this Unit. I'm not going to abandon current cases just to watch you walk in circles."

Kogami scowled openly at his former partner. "I wouldn't be walking in circles. It's north-west. I finally managed to get that damn map up on the computer before we were called out into the field again." He made an irritated noise at that fact. Gino had to agree with that assessment they had been swamped with work since finding the one dead criminal back in the apartment complex. What a day that had been. "There's a diagnol line on it right now. We just go check the places it connects with that that are-"

"A building pre-dating the use of concrete I know." He sighed again. It felt like he was doing that a lot these days. If only the Cheif would give them the okay to get back to finding the Inspector but of course it couldn't be done right now. All the units were stretched thin, and the fact that there wasn't many of them in the first place meant there was no room to slack in the jobs. "We can't afford to be low on people right now Kogami, we're already short an Inspector and Enforcer. Though if you do find Kagari while we're out there dealing with whatever it is this time do me a favor and strangle the bastard before you demand him to do your own dirty work." He said while pushing his glasses up.

The Enforcer had disapeared the same day as Inspector Tsunemori but at the time his Unit had thrown all their efforts into finding her. Afterall they had only found Kagari's decimated Dominator and they had no idea if he was alive or not anyways. Tsunemori on the other hand they knew was alive because Makishima hadn't thrown her body out into the city somewhere where citizens would see it. Plus her case was the one they had leads on, even if it was given to them by a crazy maniac. It was the only one they acutally had something they could work with.

"I already planned on it." Kogami was looking furious again. Probably thought if Gino had to look after four Enforcers on his own that he might have a chance to sneak away since they couldn't actually afford to have Kagari running Tsunemori's case when there was so many others that needed attenssion asap. At this thought the Inspector frowned. "It's been almost two weeks Gino we can't expect for Makishima to be patient with us, and he's surely torturing her in some way-"

"I know." He said frown having deepened. Ginoza already had nightmares of what could be happening to Tsunemori he didn't need those images clouding his mind while he was at work or Kogami reminding him that the matter was important. He knew, and he was sure all those thoughts and images he had were nothing compared to Kogami's. They had both seen things. Messed up things. But the Enforcer was also racked with the guilt that she had been caught because of him and his inablity to do anything but lie on the ground bleeding out.

The alarm blared again-briefly this time. I'm in hell. Gino tucked his head down considering banging it onto the desk. A computerized voice came over the speakers. _"Unit 1, please report to Shibuya. A shooter has gone into an abandoned warehouse holding nine people captive. Enforcers please report to the paddy wagon this instant."_ There was a slight pause and then, _"Repeating message, please report to Shibu-"_

He blocked the noise from his head. Apparently Yayoi hadn't been completely succesful in telling them to shut up. "Alright." He said loudly and stood up from the chair, "Let's go and when this is over and we get back here I want a list of the locations we'll have to search and printed before the goddamned contraption goes off again." He caught Mazaoka smiling at the last part and waved his hand in his location to tell him to get going while he continued, "And I want someone to tell Shion to turn it off before that happens."

Convienently the analysist was passing by the door as he said that and turned to glance over into the office at the Enforcer and Inspector that remained in the room. "I'm not allowed to do that. They need to reach you instantly for any messages."

Ginoza of course had known that but scowled anyways, "Tell them to send a letter instead."

The blond-haired woman smiled at that. "You know they would find a way to make it scream at you as well." At the expression on the two males faces she laughed and walked off heading into her room while carrying a tray of what must be her lunch even though it was past the time for that. This schedule was throwing them all off.

"Actually Shion-" he began to call after her.

"Get the map off Kogami's computer and make a list of all places and print it. Don't worry, I'll take care of it." Finally, something was working for them.

**/ / /**

Her lungs seemed to collapse on her, she almost thought that they had been pushed into her body and out her back from the blow. Akane blinked at the image that came to mind. Blood seeping down her back soaked into the dark fabric of her shirt, two long gashes from which the red liquid poured from, and hanging by tendrils from those marks was one ovalish pink muscle-like looking triangle for each. She shook the morbid picture from her mind and forced her body into action.

A punch was flying at her and she twisted quickly to the side to avoid it noticing the failure of hearing the fist hit the wall in her sudden absence. She focused her attension back on her assailant, left hip turning towards him so she was standing sideways-which was suppose to make her a smaller target then she already was-as her leg struck out towards his chest.

Fingers wrapped around her ankle and pulled her forward while he sidestepped her flailing body that crashed to the floor shortly after. Pain shot up her arms, legs, and spine as she had fallen in a rather backwards position To anyone else that hadn't just seen her dragged forward-and therefore knocked off balance-it looked as if she was lying on the ground with her elbows propping her upper half up. Her eyes were still wide in surprise when she hit the wood panelling, having also felt a slight panic set in when he had tugged on her. Now she just felt anger for not foreseeing what he would do so she could have avoided being on the floor, again.

She really hated it when he did things like this. Glancing to her side to see an incoming kick she rolled out of the vicinity before pushing herself up back to her feet. When another punch came at her directing towards her head she raised her arm to block it, wincing slightly when his curled hand hit the back of her arm. She went for a more direct kick this time aiming for his kneecap.

Akane fully expected him to sidestep her blow like last time but instead she could feel his fingers on her skin again, trailing up her arm to lock around her shoulder and push her what she thought to be forward. She closed her eyes and waited to hit the floor. Her body was spun around now facing the opposite direction than before. Rather than hard floor her back hit a softer yet firm surface. The feeling of a hand on her shoulder was gone, a moment later there was a sort of clapped sound when skin fell over her face covering her nose and mouth.

Her eyes flew open. She fought to open her mouth managing to get a partial gap and tried to breath in but the hand simply pressed harder into her skin. Her chin yelped in her mind in sudden agony as the edge along the palm pressed hard into the bone. Heart fluttering she tried to take in a breath and failed to get anything out of the activity. She started moving her arms and legs in a blind panic as she attempted to yell but it came out muffled, simply soft noises even though she wanted to scream. The words were caught in her throat as she attempted it again breathing what little air she had onto his palm. "Let me go! Shogo! Let go! I can't breath!" Her body bucked and twisted in his grip and it was only then that she realized his other arm had wrapped around her waist-also managing to keep her arms down-to restrict her struggles. She wriggled against him trying to bite at his hand but her teeth couldn't move forward.

When he spoke his chest seemed to vibrate against her back and she would have reveled in the close contact with him if it wasn't for her situation. "Time's not up yet, little bird." Who cares about the time! Her mind raged. I'm suffocating here! And stop with the 'little bird' nonsense! I am not in a cage! Raising a leg she attempted to bring it down on his foot when she was raised a few inches off the ground so she was in the air. Her foot missed the mark, dangling just above his own. The grip along her waist and arms had tightened so she wouldn't fall. The preasure just caused her to twist even more in his grip.

"I don't care about the timer! Let me go!" Akane growled out her gaze starting to darken from lack of oxygen. Her gaze latched onto the timer on a nearby table and she pulled her legs up and kicked out at the stand. A frustrated curse tried to make itself heard through the fingers. Leaning back into him pressing their bodies closer together she drew her legs up again to pause. Something was pressing against her starting from just above her ass and continuing for awhile up her lower back. What _was_ that? She blushed deeply a second later before anger took over her putting power back into her legs as she lashed out at the table driving herself further against him in the process. The table shook from the force and the timer that was standing on the edge fell clattering to the ground.

The hand slipped from her fingertips trailing over her skin as it passed, his arm let go at the same time and she could hear him walking away. She hit the ground once again this time on her side and gasped in air trying to fill her lungs as quickly as possible so oxygen would be sent out to her body as her heart started to beat normally again. A second later though she was coughing, her chest heaved as she spluttered for a moment. Her body calmed after what felt like a minute had passed. Akane slowly leaned forward to rest her head against the cool wood breathing in slowly so she wouldn't be sent into another coughing rage after being devoid of oxygen for that long. Her whole left side hurt, her stomach hurt, her chest hurt, yet she was able to push those thoughts from her mind for a little while as anger took over her again. With narrowed eyes she looked at the floor.

What sort of person got aroused from a person struggling against them? Apparently the guy you have feelings for, she answered herself. Glancing over her shoulder at him she scowled, still glaring. His eyebrow rose slightly in response to the look as if to say, 'what?' Her eyes narrowed even further at the sight of him just standing there in his crisp white shirt and black slacks, a cigarette hanging between two fingers as he withdrew it from his mouth to blow out a puff of smoke. The sunlight that came through the windows touched his hair, making it seem to glow at the edges. Her chest grew warm at the sight and she frowned, looking away from him. Why did he have to be so damn sexy? She was seriously tempted to forgive him for a crime he didn't know he had commited.

Gritting her teeth she pushed herself up quickly from the ground and winced. She was sure there would be a big fat bruise forming on her stomach and crawling up her chest that she would be able to see in the dingy old mirror downstairs, not to mention how her left side must look after that final fall. For a guy that had told her he loved her four days ago she would have expected him to let up atleast a little in the combat area when they trained.

At the sound of footsteps approaching she started to walk away before stopping shortly after having winced at each step. Her hand rested lightly at her left side that had a flash of pain shooting up it still, having traveled all the way from smallest toe to her shoulder. The feeling of fingers on her own made her come out of it and she looked up to see Makishima had walked around her to stand infront of her, his hand resting on her own that laid against her hip. The fingers curled around hers as he asked, "You need me to carry you again?"

Her lower lip puffed out in anger. "No." she snapped letting the poison flick off her tongue at him. Akane had decided she wasn't going to forgive him for that sort of behavior. He could suffer the consequences. At the baffled look that flashed across his face from her words she had to surpress a laugh. To do so she bit into her lip harshly as another factor out of the many pains that could distract her and looked beyond him to the blank wall of the room.

"You're hurt." At the rather blunt statement her eyes traveled back to him to glare only to stop before they could complete the action. Now he was glaring at her in turn. A whimper escaped her lips before she could stop it. Eyes widening and knowing he hadn't taken kindly to the last few times she made the noise her hand flew up to her mouth to cover it. The gaze on her only softened a second later. "Come here." She shook her head defiantly. "Akane," his voice had taken on a lower tone.

She just shook her head again and backed up a step before letting her hand fall away from her mouth. Before he could speak again she started, "No. I'm fine. I can make it down to the room by myself." She crossed her hands over her chest to look more defiant but ended up wincing when her arms came in contact with the fabric and therefore pressing against her skin.

At the frustrated look on his face she began to turn only to have the grip on her fingers hold her in place. Right, she had forgotten about his hand holding onto hers. "No, you can't." She opened her mouth to protest in response and was cut off, "I'm carrying you wether you like it or not." With those words he pulled her close before picking her up into his arms.

A blush creeped up her cheeks and she ducked her head down from his face to stare at his shirt instead. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she could feel him move towards her destination. Akane dug her fingers into his shirt trying to bruise him up a bit like he so often did to her. She never liked it when he did things like that, even if it was just keeping their fighting pratice more on the realistic side.

Recalling his muttering from yesterday about formal training in an actual traditional martial arts she thought over what he had said. Some muthai thing, cap-something, karate-though he had muttered an no after that one. She relaxed into his grip peeking up at him from between strands of her hair. He was looking forward and she tucked her head further down before she let a smile come across her face. She had forgotten why she was mad at him.

**/ / /**

His mind was partially swamped with her behavior during this session. What had been with all the glaring? She knew he wasn't going to go easy on her just because of his words from before. He snorted softly feeling her stir in his arms at the noise. Makishima looked down at her curled into him like a little kitten. She was so damn tiny. He could almost swear the girl could fit into somebody's pocket with her size.

His fingers swept lightly back and forth over her as they normally did when he held her like this while he forced his mind back to the training room. As if he would let her pratice in a situation where she would learn nothing and get hurt in a real fight. He was simply protecting her and making her be able to protect herself if he couldn't be there. In the small chance that she would ever be away from him for more than the time she spent down in her room.

He had actually been thinking about moving her into one of the upstairs rooms since she wasn't technically a prisoner anymore but he still had his suspicions that she would try and run away from him. Afterall he had killed her friend infront of her. How she could forgive someone for something like that was beyond him. He was still pissed off about Cho and was sure the Sybil system had a hand in his partner in crime's death. The fact that she had developed feelings for him confused him more than his own for her though. He fought over her maybe just pretending to like him to get his guard down. Fingers tightening over her body a small sound came from below him.

Taking a moment to push open the door he looked down at her a moment later very aware of the whimper that had just slipped out. He breathed out slowly and walked over to what one could only refer to as her bed. It was crappy really and he kept thinking she needed something more comfortable but he had no desire to drag anything into the room. It was partially where his thoughts of moving her upstairs came from. So she could have her own place rather than be stuck down here. He simply wasn't doing that though until there wasn't a single doubt in his mind that she loved him as well. She still hadn't said those exact words to him.

Supressing a sigh he bent down and laid her onto the rug, his eyes lingered on the purple black marks appearing on her left shoulder and he drew a hand to touch the spot softly. There was another small mumur from her at this action. He was just happy she hadn't whimpered again. Seeing her in pain he could take hearing her response to it while they practiced was not. The last time that had happened another chair got broken, a window shattered, and she was crying on the floor at his feet pleading him to stop.

He drew a hand over her hair to see a smile was on her face and her eyes closed. His own face softened and he dragged a finger down her cheek. She had fallen asleep. Leaning forward he brushed the hair from her forehead and kissed the skin there. "Good night, Akane." he said softly so he wouldn't wake her up before leaving.


	9. Chapter 9

_- tranquil_

**Special thanks to my lovely reviewers; Zaryin, DarkinocensDLT, EternityMusic4Me, MidoriKiwi, Dumti, and Exile Wrath! Cookies and cupcakes to all readers! Thanks for sticking with the fic everyone! (no it's not ending yet, trust me, very long story) How come whenever I'm writing for this chapter Britney is singing?**

Upon waking up she glanced to the oil lamp to see it was almost out. That meant Shogo would be coming down soon, that it was morning. She rolled over on her side and gasped in pain promptly rolling back to her right to keep the preasure off her left. Akane lied there for a couple more seconds before slowly getting up and taking off her shirt and bra. She closed her eyes counting to ten before opening them to glance down at her side and hiss as if in pain just from seeing the marks on her.

Her whole left side was covered in black and blue blotches, little tendrils randomly spreading out from the main mass. She didn't even want to know what the lower half of her body looked like. Plus the blotches along her chest. She would have to though. Akane started to get up when she heard the door knob turn, with a surprised sort of squeaking sound she tugged the blanket up around her shoulders to cover herself and glanced to the door to see Makishima as he walked in. "Morning." she greeted voice still a little high turning away quickly so he wouldn't see the rising blush to her cheeks. Calm down, she told herself. He didn't see anything.

"Something wrong?" He asked and she found that the tone he spoke in bothered her for some reason, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was.

"I'm fine." she replied smoothly finally getting her voice back to normal. Akane bit her lip until she heard the rustle of a bag hitting the floor beside her. She glanced over towards it then where he normally was, upon seeing his back turned to her. With a confused frown she turned back to the bag and sat back up properly.

Opening up the bag she realised why he was looking away. There was two small pieces of clothing at first she thought it was undergarments before she reached a hand out to bring them out. Sitting back on her heels she felt the blanket fall completely off her now as she stood and tugged her shorts down along with her panties before tugging on the two articles. Looking down at herself she grimaced from seeing her left leg covered in one long purple bruise that seemed to wrap almost entirely around it. The colors of the what she now realised was swim clothes was a mix of blue, purple, and green. She bit at her lip wondering why he had given her this to wear for today. What was he up to?

"I'm finished." she said turning around to look back at over at him, a blush forming on her face when she found him already looking at her. Akane immedietly felt uncomfortable. When had he turned around? When she was finally able to raise her head to look him in the eye she flinched away from the anger she saw in their depths. Her mind went into overdrive trying to think up why he would be mad at her. He hadn't even looked that angry the time she whimpered while in the fighting pratice room, and she was pretty sure she had felt the anger in the air that time. "Ummm are you okay?" A couple seconds passed, and then some more. Looking up cautiously she found him just staring at her. Akane looked down back at her body wondering if he was just angry with himself because of the state she was in. Even in the revealing clothing she didn't normally show this much skin, since well, it was meant to cover one up. "I can get a towel-"

"Come over here." he interupted her and she moved forward after a moment of deliberation. Akane bit her lip when he raised his hands toward her face and there was a piece of black silk in them. "Close your eyes."

She stared at him. What? Was... was he going to blindfold her? Why? "Wha-what's going on?" her voice shook and she tried to steady it as quickly as possible.

His eyes just drilled into her own. "Shut up, Inspector." A wave of sadness washed over her when he didn't call her by her name. When he grabbed her arm and pulled her close she had already started to tremble. She bit her lip to stop herself from talking anymore as it seemed to be setting him off even more. When he gave her a pointed look and went to speak again she closed her eyes before he could and felt the material settle over her eyes a moment later. She stayed silent throughout the process until she heard the words, "Walk," and there was a shove to her shoulder, the hand clamping down a second later as she started to walk.

Feeling suddenly blind she reached a hand out for him as all she heard was his breathing and their footsteps echoing off the stone walls. It took a second but her fingertips touched the silk of his shirt and she slipped an arm around him pressing herself closer. The only clue she had to them getting to the stairs was when he raised her off from the ground and carried up though not like he normally did. She had basically been raised in the air rather than surrounded by his arms, though she marveled at the fact that he could pick her up with just one arm. Her feet hit the ground again in a moment and he urged her along telling her in sharp hisses when to turn.

The place has to be like a maze she figured, just from all the times he had told her when to move she knew this place was even bigger than what she had first thought. The feeling of wood under her feet suddenly turned to tile and she slowed for a moment before he pushed at her causing Akane to stumble forward and let go of him. Her arms stretched forward to latch onto what felt like a metal tube. Her skin crawled at the cold and then she heard something that practically made her heart freeze, a small little sloshing sound. It was gone in the next instant though and she relaxed rationalizing that it was her imagination. The cold from the metal though was seeping into her body and she let go of what she figured must be a rail.

"Shogo?" she whispered and felt a hand along her wrist and a simple brush of hot air along her neck. Her muscles relaxed further and she was pulled along her body still quickly becoming cold since she was barefoot walking on cold tile. "Where-" she started then urged himself to push through and finish with the question since she had already begun to ask, "Where are we?"

He sounded quite amused when he replied with a simple, "You'll see." The way he said it made an uncomfortable shiver go down her spine. Whatever room she was in by the sound of his voice it wasn't one she wanted to be in. Her foot sudenly hit something other than tile and stopped for a moment knowing her face showed her fear, she slowly stretched out her foot to feel the surface, metal, strips of metal, like a grate. She trembled and when she realised he hadn't tugged her further yet, it made her body shake even harder. Her breathing came fast and her breath hitched. "Keep walking, I'll stop you when you get there."

Get where? Her mind panicked as she yelled in her mind. Where was she going? What was this room for? "Have I-" she fought herself over the use of words but the first ones slipped out anyways, "done something wrong?" The air around her remained silent and her voice rised on her next word, "Shogo?" She was starting to panic and she didn't even fully understand why his silence scared her so much. "If I have, I'm sor-"

"Stop here." He cut her off and she halted still feeling the metal underneath her feet. Somehow she felt even colder than before. "Raise your hands, Akane." She relaxed again at the use of her name and complied with his wish, raising her hand to feel a seperate metal link go over each. Feeling it against her skin she had started to shake again but told herself to stop. He had used her name, she was fine. Slowing her breathing she got it back to normal. Once she was just standing there feeling a bit cold she wondered how silly she looked like this, eyes closed beneath a silk covering, standing almost naked on some metal grate. A nervous laugh slipped past her lips, her blood froze a second later at his words. Was he... counting down? What for? The feel of his hands in her hair made her tense until she could feel the blindfold loosening. Could she open her eyes now?

"Three," he breathed directly onto her neck, "Two," she could feel the silk fall from her face but refused to open her eyes until he said so, "One." She shivered involuntarily as his finger drew down her spine before his full hand pressed on her back and sent her toppling forward.

Akane fell forward, at first she curled her legs expecting to fall and hit them on the metal grate, which would actually hurt now that she thought about it. But she didn't hit any grate infact she was sure she had fallen past the height the grate would be at. The sound of metal clinking rapidly above her as she fell made her remember the metal cuffs around her wrist. So the two weren't connected by a single chain like she had expected. Yanking on them for a second the metal clinked faster. Yup, the two were definetly on two seperate links that both ended somewhere overhead probably connected to something. The thought of why she was falling and to where passed her mind just as her toes became ice cold.

Her eyes shot open, giving her less than a quarter of a second to realise why she was wearing what she was, and then she had plunged fully into the tank. A large tank filled with ice cold water. Her heart skyrocketed, water seeping into her open mouth that had tried to scream before she entered it's numbing grasp. She could feel her muscles tighten from the shock of being warm a second earlier and she gasped. Forcing herself to swallow more of the water and feel it run down her throat to hit the empty pit of her stomach before she managed to close it. She sank further until she felt a bounce along the chains around her wrists. It kept her from going further down into the tank and she finally stopped long enough to really look at her previously unknown surroundings.

Bright lights ontop of metal poles were pointed at the water, highlighting the water around her and making it easy to see around her. It was a light blue which atleast comforted her that the water wasn't dirty. A second later though she looked down trying to tell where the bottom was, but the water seemed to distort her vision and she practically feel the cold racing into her bones.

Her body finally went into panic mode, her eyes widening. Akane raised her hands and brought them forth to feel them hit glass a second later, from the way it vibrated her mind was already calculating how thick it was, atleast a few inches not something she could break. Even knowing this she hit it again while her body floated in the middle of the tank. At first her arms seemed to be warming up as she moved them but the cold gripped it again moments later. She tried to breath through her nose, of course, it just made bubbles and she watched as they floated back up to the surface. There was a whimper caught in her throat and a moment later she screamed.

Bubbles floated up from her mouth, water rushing back in and she tried to cough it up just to get more in her mouth. The muscles on her face were tightening from scrunching it up when she tried to expel the liquid from her body. The feeling of floating in what felt like empty space unnerved her. Hell, the water unnerved her. She fought to move her legs and felt them straining to move through the thick substance, they felt like lead weights and she raised her arms to pound on the glass again. Her body wasn't shaking like she would have expected it to from the cold water, instead she felt barely able to move as she pounded again and again. Fire was racing up her throat from the pit of her lungs. She fought the urge to scream again. Her eyes burned as if she was crying but she didn't felt any tears and soon they were becoming cold as well.

Heart racing in her chest she screamed in her mind, batting at the glass continuosly even though she could no longer feel her hands. She couldn't feel anything anymore besides cold. The only reason she knew she was hitting glass was because she saw it with her eyes, which she was afraid to close in case they froze that way. Akane watched as her hands slowed infront of her, she could feel her heart pounding hard in her chest start to back pedal. Her eyes widened, even her veins felt cold and she tugged hard at her wrists just to feel something else.

That's when she noticed the lights moving down and a moment later head broke the surface of the water. The clinking of metal above her assualted her previously drowned senses. Her heart picked up, the burning in her lungs insisted the opening of her mouth and she did, to cough out water. Watching the drops hit the surface and send ripples out in all directions. She was gasping for air a moment later. A clink and the sharp tug at her wrists informed her that she had stopped. The metal along her skin had begun to burn, pinching the skin and she screamed at the feeling along her cold flesh. The sharp tug she felt didn't help either since all her weight was being supported by her wrists, or hanging from it. Depending on how one saw it.

There was another clicking noise and she felt her body sway in the air, she was turning. Her eyelids fluttered while her heart started to beat at a steady rate again. Even so, she was still gasping in breath after breath, filling her lungs with the lovely cold air to cease the burning inside her chest. It took her a moment to feel the remains of water clinging to her and crawling down her skin, forced to move back to the tank below her from gravity pushing it down. She could feel the pull as well and her wrists were hurting more with every second she remained suspended in the relatively warm air. Atleast it was warmer than the tank. The click sounded again and her body swayed once more.

"Inspector," his voice woke her from her half-consious state and her head snapped up to see him standing on a metal pier hanging over the water. The same one she must have standed on before. She wondered how long ago that had been. A minute? She knew she couldn't hold her breath very long, it had to be. Yet it felt like she had been under forever.

She blinked at him, feeling scalding trails down her cheeks in response. Her tongue flicked out after a moment testing if she could still move it, catching one of them from falling off her upper lip. The salty tang made her gasp. The noise confirmed to her that she had the capability to speak. Tears stinging at her eyes she went to whisper since her throat felt constricted. What came out instead was a scream, a moment later she was sobbing as words tumbled from her mouth, "What did I do to you?" she screamed. "Why are you doing this to me? Why!" Her lips were trembling as she tried to look at him. Seeing a blurry figure she blinked rapidly to expel the tears and feel more run down her rapidly warming face, the other parts of her body were warming much more slowly.

Seeing him standing there in his usual outfit, staring across the gap of air inbetween them made her feel as if a hand was squeezing her heart. When a cruel smile lit up his face she tried to curl in on herself but her hanging body didn't make that easy to accomplish. "Why? Surely you know why Akane Tsunemori." She shook her head quickly making it pound from the sudden movement, her eyes caught that to his left was a panel, a metal stick raised, the top of what appeared to be buttons on the surface of the console. The tears just came down harder as she sobbed. "You're not even going to try and guess?" His hand moved towards the console and she stared at him as his fingers wrapped around the metal stick.

"No!" she shouted halting his action of pushing it down. Taking in a shaky breath she muttered, "What do you want me to say? What is it that I did to make you angry with me? Please, please, tell me. Don't put me back down there." she hiccuped and a soft murmur escaped her lips. "I hate the water." A shiver ran up her spine, and her body shook just from saying the word.

"I know." At the sound of him speaking again she raised her head back up to stare into his eyes. She couldn't discern what she saw in them, there was random flashes and one never stayed long enough for her to figure out what it was, and she wasn't even good at telling people's emotions in the first place. Her breath came fast, and then she saw his hand slam down. The usual clicking noise came faster than before as she fell fast, a scream tearing up from her chest. If she had looked up she would have seen sparks where the metal flared against metal.

"Stop!" the word left her lips just before she hit the water and felt her body grow cold again. It wasn't as shocking as before but she still felt the cold immedietly sink into her bones. She struggled against the clasps of metal around her wrist, fingers curling up to grasp at the metal coils, trying to pull herself up from the water. Her legs kicked uselessly below her, soon her fingers were too numb and her grip on the metal slipped after getting them up a few inches.

Already her lungs started to burn and she didn't even think a second has passed since she had hit the water. Raising her hands back up she started pounding on the glass again, holding her breath this time trying to keep what little oxygen she had after using most of it in her attempt to have him raise the lever back up. The burning in her chest was growing faster this time and she shook her head, it was pounding hard. It hurt. It hurt so much. Hands dropped back to her sides and she stifled a sob in her throat. Raising her fingers slowly through the water that slipped soundlessly between them she brought them to her face, touching at her skin. Pinching, slapping, she was trying to keep herself warm. Her legs hit against eachother, her body twisted and turned. The burning in her chest didn't stop and she could feel the heat in her lungs building once again to crawl up her throat. She breathed out, releasing the last of her reserves watching the bubbles helplessly.

She twisted harder, legs flinging out to kick at the glass. Hands shooting forward to scratch at it, the wisp of red floating up from her attempts was her only way of knowing that she had broken the surface of her skin, or possibly a nail. A sharp boiling pang sparked in her chest and she screamed, curling in on herself. Her hands shot to her head in slow motion, it seemed to take forever for them to reach her hair and curl inside. The water along her eyes felt warm and she knew she was crying even harder than before as the feeling spread through her. She finally squeezed her eyes closed, clutching at her her hair, forcing her mouth closed as her throat continued to burn, her entire chest feeling like it was on fire.

The water slipping along her body was her only clue that she was being raised back out. Eyes shooting open she stretched her arms up, teeth digging into her lip when they came out of the water and the metal started cutting into her skin right away. She emerged from the water, mouth open in a silent scream. Her lungs expanded filling with air and she kept her lips parted to feel the whoosh of air float past them. The final click resounded in her ears but it was the flow of two little words that made her raise her head back up. Little bird.

Her jaw trembled as he spoke again, "You're bleeding little bird."

She whimpered, feeling the sting on her hands slowly as her senses came back to her. "J-just." she ducked her head down for a moment crying and whimpering openly. "Let me go. Please Shogo." Raising her head back up as she said the words she caught the spark of anger in his eyes and her stomach clentched. Her heart beating desperately in her chest, still not calm yet. "N-no, please, I didn't-" The sound of the metal clicking again made her eyes burn with new fervor. "Please! Stop it! I don't know what you want from me!" she cried out, desperate. "Not back into the water, please no." the words were so soft in the still air.

The clicking stopped and her ears suddenly burned from the silence, she could feel her toes skimming over the surface of the water and she whimpered at the feeling as the cold started to slowly travel up her legs without even being dipped further down. "You're a sick little girl." The venom in his voice alone almost made her heart stop beating entirely. She stretched her head up to meet his gaze as he leaned over the railing looking down at her as he leaned over the console. "Not even feeling a tinge of regret for the passing dead. Not thinking for an instant about how they might feel." She shivered as the winter-like grasp reached her kness. Akane kept her head up though as she looked into his eyes, contempt burning in the depths of gold.

"I'm not-" she whimpered.

"Oh, you are. You're a monster Akane Tsunemori. Even more than I am. Before you knew what was going to happen in this room you liked it. The feeling of my skin on yours, your whole body started shivering with desire. Sick and twisted." He tut tutted at her, even going as far as to shake a long slender finger at her. "I wonder when it started..." he trailed off for a moment. "When was it, the second day? First?" His golden eyes settled back onto her. "I said something, and you didn't appear to hear me. Atleast not anything else besides the first word, _Tsunemori._" A gasp slipped past her lips and tears slid faster down her face at his words. "Do you like it when I speak your name Inspector? Does it send yearning throughout your body?"

"Stop it." she whimpered feeling a heat coil within her chest as he continued speaking, tongue covered with acid that sent the small burning into a building fire inside her. The unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach sent her into a series of whimpers, no pain lacing them.

"I thought so." A soft rush of air sent her tears running down even quicker. That single outake of breath seemed filled with disaproval. "Don't you feel even a bit sickened with yourself _Akane?_"

"You," she had to stop to take a gasp of air trying to control her irregular breathing, "you said you loved me."

His eyes flickered away for a moment then landed back on her and she felt shaken to her very core at what she saw in them. Just endless depths of warmth coming from them, he suddenly seemed to radiate it instead of the usual cold and she wanted to drink it all in. "And I'll say it again, I love you Akane Tsunemori. Every single inch of you, even bruised, is beautiful. I wouldn't let you go even if a Dominator locked in decimation mode was held to my head. I plan to hold onto you forever. Doesn't that scare you? Being held in the same hands that killed your friend?"

At those words she heard the clicking sound again. Her eyes went wide just before she was plunged back under, her feet had already grown cold. When she tried to move them they refused to obey. Her attempts only went that far though as she floated in what felt like oblivion. Her mind was racing, holding onto each word he had spoken, but it was the first and last few that resonated within her.

A monster. Him, calling her that. Her body shook and not just from the cold that had taken hold of her again. But, he loved her. She raised her hands sinking her face into the cool palms.

_Yuki._

She trembled beneath the water trying to cry but unable. The image of him standing there, slashing the throat of her friend and the last scream for help that came from woman's lips. The blood running down her throat, the warm red liquid dripping off his blade, somehow there wasn't even a dot of it on his own skin. That small femine voice whispering her name when she collapsed after the gun went off. All the images flew back at her, cutting in though were others.

_She was leaning forward over a table clasping her hands around Akane's own, "What's wrong?" The sunlight slit across her wrists from half closed blinds of the window._

Her heart clentched and she dug her nails into her hair. I've betrayed you, Akane thought. I'm thinking things, feelings things about your murder that I shouldn't. I shouldn't be feeling like this and I don't know why I am. There's something wrong with me. She wanted to scream out the words but her lips refused to move.

_"You can tell me anything you know. I'll always understand." The light haired brown curls bounced with each step she took as they walked. She turned and offered up a childish smile, holding a finger to her lips. "Don't tell Kaori, but I think she's a little biased about stuff like this." Her head tilted, the dying sun behind her highlighting her form. "Anyway, I think you should do this MWPSB thing. If you think you can do something there then you go and do it. No harm comes from trying something right?"_

I killed you. She saw the flashes of blood again. I killed you the moment I took this job. I condemned you to a horrible death. Why didn't you try and talk me out of it?

_A hand flicked a stray strand of hair hanging into her eyes. "Really? You're thinking about cutting it?" The hair bobbed back into place the image moving up and down as her head nodded. "Hmm," hands gripped the side of her face, fingers curling into her hair stopping at a certain length. "That would look cute. So many girls keep theirs long these days. You would stand out." Words spilled forth from a memory and the girl infront of her laughed. "Who cares if someone calls you a boy? You said this is something you want to do right? So do it. Make the decision." Another slip of words, more laughter. A flip of hair that glowed in the artifical light. "I am wise aren't I?" A pout formed on the lips. "And yet I suck at tests. I wish I had your brains Akane. Insight hardly seems to help someone these days."_

It hadn't helped at all that day. Akane had been told what had happened, that she had gone home and fell asleep to wake up on a train, alone and terrified with a bag over her head. Nothing was off in the apartment either, no struggle. Had she been put under? A dull ache in her chest echoed throughout her numb limbs.

_"What? You had trouble with it? Well, shit-" A laugh. "It's just a cuss no big deal. Can't live your life playing by society's rules all the time now can you?" There was a soft sigh. "I just know I'm going to fail at those tests and get stuck with a crappy job." There was a wishful look in those eyes as they looked at her and suddenly they sparked with life. "Hey!" Hands clasped around her shoulders and shook her, hard. "You'll get a good one won't you? You should live it for everything it's worth. All the bad and good decisions. Even the crappy ones." she laughed then, "Maybe I'll like my crappy job. Meet a nice guy, marry, have children. Live the dream in an otherwise boring place. At least I'll have you and everyone else to push me through those mucky parts and get to the good ones." The hands let go of her shoulders as the girl looked to the side with a faraway look in her eye._

The corners of her lips twisted up slowly at the memory. Yeah, live everything for what is was worth. The smiled died from her face. But, if it killed more people she cared about it... what was she suppose to do? Kaori hadn't even talked to her after Yuki's funeral. No one wanted to be around her besides the Unit. No one else wanted to die if they had a choice to avoid it.

_There was a shuffling sound then she plopped down infront of her, hands raising to tear the book from her face. "What's with that long face of yours? You should tell people about your problems right away. Say whatever it is you feel instead of holding it in," she held a hand up, "even if it's only for a few days. It's not healthy. Even for you, Miss I-don't-get-cloudy."_

She drew her hands slowly down from her face, letting out a small breath. Bubbles rising up with the air. Her feelings huh? Her chest grew warm, heart pounding erratically, lungs feeling like they were filled with ash. The mental flash of gold eyes made her cheeks burn. That laugh made her heart pound harder. His words, cruel or kind sent her toppling into the depths of her emotions. The touch on her lips made the word, _mine _flow through her mind. Her skin lit up at the barest of touches, taking her breath away each time.

_She spun around, hair blowing out behind her in the wind. "I think the best way to go about it is just to breath. Do you think that's wrong? My parents do. I don't understand them. Take everything one step at a time. If you fall, push yourself back up. Get a paper cut? Put a bandage on it. Or, even better, have someone else bandage it. The important thing is to have no regrets, learn from your mistakes and grow from them." there was a nervous laugh. "Sometimes bad things happen, a volcano erupts, but then later when you go looking through the debris you find a diamond." A heavy blush set in her face. "I suppose that doesn't make much sense. Finding something beautiful in the middle of destruction."_

It made perfect sense. Her angel moving in the darkness like a beacon, and yet it was hard to spot unless you got close. At the insistent burn in her lungs she raised her hands slowly to the chains and tugged on them. Her whole body felt on fire and cold at the same time. When she curled her fingers to touch on her wrists she couldn't feel anything. Just cold. The feel of air against the tips made her body relax as she chain brought her back up. She opened her mouth slowly, drinking in the air in even breaths. The fire in her lungs died back down with each intake of breath. Akane looked down to watch the rest of her body pulled out, water cascading down her skin in rivers to fall back into the tank. She shivered at the sight.

The chain clanged finally when she had been brought back up to the final point. "Shogo," her gaze moved up from her toes to land on him still standing there, "I'm sorry." Her words came out as steady as they could while her lips quivered as an after effect of the water. "I love you, I.. think it started on the first day. If you want to keep me, then keep me. But, please, don't ever throw me away. I don't think I could... just, hold onto me, forever." she swallowed down a trickle of water they had been in her throat and tried to smile, "Is... is it okay? That I'm in love with you?"

He looked at her and she felt her body sway in the air, creeping slowly back toward the pier. "That's fine Akane." It seemed to take forever for her to feel the metal grate beneath her feet. She watched as his hands went up and undid her wrists, she fell forward onto him a sob breaking out as she clutched at his shirt. His breath warmed her hair, a hand on her back cradling her body as she cried. "I'm sorry." Another sob racked through her body, causing her to shake as he pulled her tighter against him.


	10. Chapter 10

_- thorn_

**First, I got a present for you guys. If you go to my profile you will find a "ShoAka" link, click on it. I know there was a lack of pov views in the last chapter since it really had to be told in Akane's view. But this one is more all over the place. So expect paint stains everywhere! Not literally... unless you like that kind of stuff. I should... no I don't think I will. **

With a kick the door came down and figures cloaked in black ran into the building, weapons drawn and pointing around corners before being followed by the silhouettes. The pounding of feet echoed down the cold wood halls, the sound bouncing off all flat surfaces, and there was a lot since...

"It's empty!" A frustrated shout came at the back of the building proclaimed by Kogami. He stalked back down the few halls leading into maybe a max of eight rooms. All of them were bare of any furniture and covered in dust. He stopped at the center where the four main halls met up at a cross-road. Ginoza walked towards him from the right half of the building he had inspected. "No one's lived here in years, much less held captive." His last word came out more in a snarl as he glared at Gino.

The Inspector just met his look with a steady gaze. "This is only the third building we've been able to check inbetween actual work. If all the units weren't swamped right now I would have asked for them to help us locate Inspector Tsunemori. With the ways things are though we'll just have to maintain this crawl by ourselves." When Kogami went to cut in with a curse Gino continued. "You know we're using all the resources we can right now. The Chief agreed that if there were any sightings of Makishima or criminals suspected of working with him we would get the information right away and be able to go and investigate immedietly. So far there have been no such sightings." There was an audible snap when he shut his jaw, glaring at the Enforcer in turn.

Kogami scowled while listening to the dull clicks of boots walking towards them with no urgency. The other two Enforcers were making their way back to the others and like the last few times there would be nothing to report. He was seriously starting to think Makishima had set up a new game, possibly moved from wherever he was located previously. That the latent criminal had decided he didn't want to be found while cutting Tsunemori's body up into fine little pieces. Simply torturing the girl somehow, in a sick disgusting way. He didn't want to think about it but images of her were always entering his mind; shackled to the floor with her back torn open from various beatings, hot metal being pressed into her skin to leave scars in words or images, sitting on a bed of nails that slowly slid into her perfect pale skin.

Of course, he was projecting things he had seen on this job before but with her in the situations instead. Plus much worse was the flash of an image of Makishima holding her head down under water slowly drowning the girl, perhaps letting her up at the last possible instant so she didn't die. His jaw clentched, his hands curled into fists at his sides. He wished he had never said a word about the MWSBP back on the tower and the prospect of them catching him. That bastard now had her in his grip and was probably enjoying the fact that he had a toy that would scream at whatever he did to her.

As strong as he thought Akane was she didn't strike him as a person that could do well under torture. She was never trained for it and didn't seem to hold that rare capability. He just hoped he could find her before she was driven insane or her body broken barely clinging to life. If that happened he really would never be able to forgive himself, and he didn't plan to do so for not being able to cut Makishima down at the tower while he had the chance. He could hope like the rest of them that she would be okay and be able to sustain her person and not come back to them a wreck and missing the qualities she had about her. The thought of her eyes glaring accusingly at him for having to go through torture because of his mistake was one image that recurred in his mind wether he was awake or asleep.

He sighed, "Yeah, I know that." His face contorted back into one of anger a second later though. "But we can't count on him keeping her alive for another week. Once he gets bored he'll kill her like he said."

The boots had stopped clicking sometime while he spoke. Mazaoka turned and looked at Kogami. "You could be more optimistic." The older Enforcer said. "Maybe she's found a way to buy herself time and that's why she's still there. Or-"

"Enough!" Gino snapped at the two of them just before the watch around his wrist blinked red. Fingers tapped away and a small screen came up, it was still enough for Kogami to see that another problem had been caused in the city and he narrowed his eyes in frustration.

How were they ever going to get anywhere with all these interuptions!

To distract himself he let his mind wander to the only good dreams he had these days. He would find her and save her from a horrible fate. She would be ecstatic upon seeing him before and after recieving proper medical care. He could just ask to speak with her in-private, but really he wouldn't say a word other than him being glad she was okay now. Maybe finally be able to hold her close even though just knowing she was safe and away from the criminal would ease his mind greatly.

Then he could go back to looking at her from the corner of his eyes and noticing the little times she looked back at him to smile. Which in turn made the fantasies of having those lips on him spring into mind. His teeth gritted. If Makishima did anything to her he would kill him, if he hurt her in anyway he might just torture him into death. Not that it was a secret, he had shouted threats at the man's retreating back. If there was even a tiny bruise on her petite body... he would slice that sick psycho open from head to toe.

**/ / /**

His gaze kept flickering up from the book to track her progress and finding none each time. Akane just remained on the first stone step, feet covered up to the ankle in warm water that lapped softly back and forth due to the windows in the room being thrown open. The air ghosted in rippling out over the surface of the rather old fashioned pool. Spotting the goosebumps on her flesh he looked back to the page he wasn't entirely reading.

The fact was, she was standing near naked infront of him and even with her scars she looked damned gorgeous and it took all self control he had not to go over to her and make a very different suggestion for todays activities. Even if she was standing still looking out at the small waves with terror written straight across her face. Besides, he had figured he had traumatized her enough the other day and even some more this morning. She probably wouldn't be able to deal with anything else for today. That and he thought it was important she get over this fear.

Looking up again it only took him a second to note that she hadn't moved an eighth of a centimeter since he last glanced at her. In a way she looked fascinated by the water. So much she hadn't looked over at him once since she had calmly entered the water. If that's what one could call holding a kicking and screaming girl that grew silent the minute she was set down inside. Maybe her brain had gone and frozen over since yesterday.

He loudly took in a breath and she still didn't move. Perhaps traumatized was a weaker word for what she had to be feeling. But he had already told her she wasn't leaving until she could atleast get off the steps and into the shallow end. She hadn't taken very well to that either.

If anything she just resembled a statue even more at the news. The thought of pushing her in had crossed his mind a few times by now but the reaction he would get was not one he thought to be in his favor. So he had left her there to sort things out herself. Much like in the tank, but with this she could take (mostly) all the time she wanted.

Makishima in the mean time had actually gotten up from the chair a few times after the first thirty minutes having figured nothing would change. He had already disposed of the key to her door not seeing any reason to keep locking it any longer. There was nothing left to indicate that she would run away at the first chance she got. Hell, she had told him that she _wanted_ to be kept by him. That and she seemed to have come to terms with something by the sudden spark of confidence in her step. Up until the point he told her what was going to happen for today anyways.

Resting his head in a open palm as he studied her he decided this was going to be a long and painful process for the both of them. Maybe he could tempt her with the chess pieces, tell her she could play with them and make bad english accents as much as she wanted even if she just learned how to tread water properly.

**/ / /**

She couldn't help it. Her mind kept going back to the tank even at the sight of a drop of water. When Shogo had come to her that morning with what sounded like a suggestion of her learning how to swim she couldn't hide her crazed expression from his eyes.

What was he? Insane? After what happened yesterday he wanted her to willingly go into any pool of water big enough for her body to be in? Sorry, big enough for her to swim in. Hence the pool she stood in reluctantly right now. He had given her a different bathing suit this time and she was sure he had burned the other one having smelled a fire and catching a weird scent in the smoke that didn't come from wood.

Her current suit was still a two-piece which meant she could see her bruised body while she stared down at the water. It was nicer than the last one though. A mixture of the colors white and gold, which were quickly becoming her new favorites.

Akane wasn't even sure how he had talked her into this. It was crazy and he was just sitting in a chair rather than trying to get her to even go into the water. Well, he had tried, actually about two hours ago. That was when he had grabbed her and forced her onto the first step... and she hadn't moved since. Her legs were starting to shake from standing for so long. They felt wobbly and like they would collapse on her if she moved even an inch. That was partially why she didn't dare to move now. The other was her simple-what he had so calmly called, 'irrational fear of water'. It may have been irrational two days ago but now she totally had a reason.

Being thrown into ice cold water does not help with one's fear of it you stupid stupid man! She was still considering shouting that at him but her mouth would not work anymore right now. He had effectivly shut those systems down with this idea.

A prickling had begun up her legs and she cursed them silently. Going to sleep on her and doing that pins and needles thing... She blinked in terror as her legs started to shake as if the preasure was finally becoming too much for them. You can do it! She urged mentally. Stay in place! She locked her knees a moment later to stop the trembling and sighed softly in relief.

Ten minutes later the feeling had traveled up to her knees as well and she didn't know how to stop it. She was barely aware of the soft whimpers coming from her, even less of the hard stare she was getting from making such noises that made the right side of her upper body prickle in a very different way. Her legs were shrinking down on her, the water lapping up just slightly past her ankles. She yelped at the sudden change, jumping slightly in the process. When her foot came back down in contact with the smooth stone step she slipped forwards, plunging into the water infront of her, body barely skimming over the last steps and she was extremely glad she was short in that moment or else she would have hit her head on the bottom of the pool.

Now submerged she started kicking and throwing her arms forward at awkward angles. The fact that this water was at a normal room tempature instead of freezing did little to comfort her nerves. She had squeezed her eyes shut but once she felt her head break the surface they snapped open as she shouted a, "Shogo help me!" Her gaze turned quickly around the room to find him still sitting in the chair with his face contorted in such a way that he was clearly trying not to laugh at her. Gasping she felt water slip through her lips and quickly spat it back out as she tried her best to glare before she felt the water rising back past her chin, "Help!" she cried again, voice shaking.

His eyes suddenly narrowed in on her and she swallowed self consiously. The book in his hands being closed echoed in a dull thump as his gaze remained fixed on her. Her heart was beating wildly. Aren't you going to move? She wanted to scream at him as she felt her head sink further down, the water rising to touch the bottom of her lips. When she heard his voice she was torn from being scared and pissed off, "Akane, dear, you're in the shallow end of the pool. Stand the fuck up."

Her feet settled on the bottom so fast pushing her body back up on wobbly legs so she had to clutch at the edge of the pool just so she didn't fall over. "What did you just say?" She snapped, glaring a paralyzer ray at him. He might as well have been actually hit by one since he hadn't moved any further after setting the book down on a onyx looking table end.

"I said, _stand the fuck up_." Makishima smiled at her while he repeated the words. "And you did, good job making progress."

At seeing his hands move back toward his book she exploded, "Why can't you say stand up like a normal person! And this isn't progress! I slipped into the water you dumbass!," his gaze flickered up briefly as he opened the book. "You said you were going to help me! Stop sitting there and come fix the problem you made more difficult!"

"If you hadn't had your issues with our relationship it wouldn't have been necessary." His words just floated back to her as he thumbed through the pages to find wherever it was he had left off.

Akane sighed pushing her head forward onto the smooth stone her hands rested on. She glanced at him between strands of her hair. "Our relationship?" she murmured, still not quite believing that's what they had now. What if it wasn't love she felt? Rather that... what was it? Stockholm syndrome thing. But, didn't that take more time to develop? Besdies that, if it wasn't love why had she been worried what everyone back in the city would think about the two of them?

Watching him close and put the book back down she raised her head slowly as he walked toward the pool, her thoughts swirling into an even further mess. Her eyes followed him as he walked down the steps his clothes quickly soaking through. She bit at her lip when the bottom part of his shirt started sticking to the skin and she leaned forward a bit gaze stuck on him even when he stopped infront of her. A finger pressed at the bottom of her chin and tipped it up to meet his eyes. "Akane," the soft tone made her heart flutter, "let's not talk about the other day, okay? I don't want to upset you further."

She blinked at him, still biting into her lip. Waiting for a moment she gave a small nod. "Okay." The finger fell away from her face, his hands wrapped around her own bringing them off from the wall to let go a second later. They settled a second later on either side of her face, stroking at the skin and hair. She relaxed into his touch up until she noticed him leaning forward. Her teeth slipped off her lip and she hesitantly moved forward to meet him, closing her eyes a second later when she felt his lips pressing onto hers. Hands slipped down her body to settle on her waist, pushing her against him. Her body felt flushed and warm against his own. When her lip was pulled gently into his mouth she blushed at the pleasant feeling of his tongue running along the surface. With a gasp she opened her mouth and felt his tongue plunge into her mouth. Raising her hands she wrapped them along the back of his neck, finger tangling in the white hair they found there while she attempted to pin his tongue down with her own. She ultimately lost that fight though and pulled away for a moment to take in a gasp of air. He was already pulling her back to him, laying kisses along her cheeks, nose, forehead, until Akane took ahold of his head and pulled him down so she could reach his lips.

Her body seemed to get warmer the more they kept in contact and soon she felt a burning in her stomach once again. With a whimper she pressed further against him wishing his shirt was out of the way so she could feel his skin. At the feeling of his hands dropping below her waist her eyes snapped open for a moment then she relaxed a moment later. She raised her legs up effortlessly to wrap them around his own waist, clinging to him.

He suddenly pulled away from her and she blinked trying to trail after him. "Akane," Shogo said in a soothing tone while grabbing her legs and disentangling himself from her. "relax." At that word she frowned at him wondering why he would tell her something like that.

She turned her head down to look at her feet and started at the sight of water just below his shoulders and noticed a second later that the liquid was covering her own. "You..." She took in a breath to try and calm herself but ended up shouting anyways, "You tricked me!" Her heart was thundering in her chest but she didn't know if she could get out by herself without ending up under the water once again. "And when did the water get cold?" she muttered.

"You're fine. Now just raise your legs." His hands were along the back of her thighs urging her to raise them up through the water.

"Why?" she snapped immedietly trying to push her legs back down as she felt herself start to sink further when her heels weren't pressed into the stone.

A kiss was laid on her forehead before he pulled back away and she scowled at him opening her mouth to berate him. "You told me to help you. Now relax, you're just going to float for a moment. You won't go under, I'm right here." She scrunched her nose at him for talking before she could. "Come on, raise your legs a bit."

"Fine." she muttered and raised her legs up until his hands clasped around them in a motion to stop. Akane felt ridiculous as he arranged the lower half of her legs as well though she didn't mind the feel of his hands running along her skin.

There was a tapping at her foot before his hand wrapped along her ankle twisting the foot in some specific motion. "Keep it like that." he told her before moving on to her next foot and making it move in a similar motion just in the opposite direction. His hand slipped away a moment later and she continued to move her feet figuring he would ask her to anyway. "How do you feel?" he asked a moment later and she glanced at Makishima to see him looking at her carefully.

"Fine, I guess." At his smile she blinked shoulders drawing forward as she leaned toward him. "Is.. am I-" she wasn't sure how to phrase it but at his nod she beamed. A moment later though she frowned glaring at the water around her before looking back at him. She raised her arms above the surface, "Could you? I don't know how to swim over." Not to mention she was kinda scared of if she moved wrongly in some way she would end up suffocating. He moved over towards her to wrap his arms around her and she smiled. Akane kissed at his neck the only skin she could get to at the moment. "Thank you." she murmured directly in his ear.

**/ / /**

Hands rifled through drawers, open and closing the four stuffed with previous solved criminal files. All cases worked on before where Makishima was behind the crime were pulled out. The folders were soon spread out across the desk that was highlighted by a single desk light. The reports were pushed aside, the photos taking priority. None of the criminals had been brought in for questioning due to their crime coefficent being to high and being dealt with immedietly.

The amount of pictures was small not taking much time to go through. The hand holding them flung the images across the room as the person sighed, pressing back into the chair with a sigh. A hand settling over the eyes.

How on earth was is so hard to find one person?


	11. Chapter 11

_- ember_

**For anyone that is a fan of cross-overs I have put up a psycho-pass and elder scrolls one. Which is rated mature like this one so be careful if you're squeemish, though if you're this far in here you can probably handle it. Now for this chapter *starts fire* let's see how much logs we can get added on. Shall we?**

She walked down the wood hall, bare feet hitting the wood softly so no noise was heard as she advanced through the maze. Her eyes kept looking into rooms she passed if the door happened to be open-which didn't happen often. Most of the time they were closed and she didn't dare open them though she would stop near them to call his name through the door and wait a couple seconds, of course he hadn't answered her calls. Akane knew the only reason was because he wasn't in the room though.

This morning she had been pleasantly surprised when she found the door unlocked to her room. She had been wishing for this moment for so long and she immediately got angry at herself. If this had happened before his proclamation even after he had kissed her rather than killed him she would have tried to escape. If the door hadn't been locked before she said the words back to him she might have headed off to find a garage. As things were though, she wasn't. She probably never would. Simply because she couldn't. Akane didn't see any point in leaving other than wanting to assure her parents and friends she was okay, but then the unit would find her and consequently him, and, quite honestly, she wanted to protect him. Not that he needed it.

She didn't even want to imagine what any of the Enforcers in her unit would do to Makishima if they found him. The Dominators didn't work against him so he wouldn't just expand and burst like a bubble if it could even set itself to the Lethal Eliminator mode. Mazaoka would probably just want to put him on trial like they did before the Sybil system and therefore on a death row.

That's what the Dominators did now that she thought about it. They judged people. Faster, sure. But was it as effective? It didn't take in evidence to account. It was based soley on the person. Their thoughts in that moment. She hadn't mentioned it ever but when Kagari said he had been flagged at five she found it to be unfair. For one, it could have simply been a violent tantrum, a quite normal thing for a kid to do. To think that the Sybil system would do that to a child that hadn't taken any innapropriate action was unnerving. It had bothered her before but it seemed to bother her more now. She wondered how the Enorcer was doing right now. It would put her mind at ease to know how all they were. Though she could guess none were in good spirits what with her current location.

Kogami... he must be furious. She quickly pushed him out of her mind as it only sent up images of him beating up Makishima and she never wanted to see him like that. Akane didn't know Yolei very well though or Shion, of course as they were part of her team she was sure the two woman were worried for her safety.

Then there was her fellow Inspector, Ginoza. For a moment she wondered if something like this had happened before. That an Inspector was kidnapped before and that the MWPSB had specific ways of dealing with it. She shook the idea from her mind a second later. No, if they did she surely would have been found before this development occured-before she even realised what her feelings for her former captor were and what it meant. Her stomach hurt suddenly and let out a small hiss. She didn't want to feel like this over finding someone she loved. This sick feeling like she was betraying everyone she had ever cared for. It left a sour taste in her mouth and she moved her thoughts away from the unit not wanting to make the feeling worse than it already was.

Yesterday.

When Makishima had finally let her out from the water the other day the sun had been setting, it had grown cold in there again, and... she might have begged for them to continue the swimming lessons another day. Fortunetly he had agreed that it was getting late and even told her how good she was doing so far on getting over her fear. She was still aware that it would take awhile for her to get over it, and she certainly needed his help to do so. But she was glad. Having him there to support her-and the fact that his shirt was white and therefore when wet became transparent-was a good motivator.

She licked her lips self consiously. He had seen her in revealing clothing and the fact that she hadn't seen much of him beneath his clothes-atleast directly-made her scowl. Because she wanted to. Her teeth ground together and she bit at her lip while hurrying to the next closed door.

"Shogo?" she called throught the wood softly then raised a hand to knock. When no sounds came back and the door didn't open her lips curled down even more. Turning she began to run down the hall pausing at other doors to knock before taking off in a mere second to go to the next one in her desperation to find him.

Her chest was burning pleasantly at the thought of finding him and she shivered uncomfortable with the feeling. She paused in her movements to glance down at herself and smooth her clothes back over, the thin green shirt with silver leaves embossed on it that flowed over her skin rather than skin tight made her smile. It was oddly enough not very show considering the sort of clothes her normally gave her. The only thing that stood out about it was how at her sides it curved up to make a short small slit, but it stopped short below where the top of her light jeans ended. Running her hands down over the clothes again she sighed and walked to the next door.

Akane paused cause there wasn't actuall a door, just a door way. She peaked her head through to feel the breath rush out of her. Stepping into the room she went to stand before the glass wall to press a hand against the surface while she gazed out at the clearing it let her see. There was flowers just growing naturally outside randomly spirnging out from the grass in clumps or occasionaly there was a lone flower. Sliding her hand down it bumped into a colder piece that was unmistakably metal. She wrapped her fingers around it and pulled so the door slid open gliding smoothly to stop behind another piece of glass so it was 'outside'.

She stepped through going over to the water fountain leaving the door open unsure if it locked from the inside or not. It was smaller than she thought it would be since everything else in his home was so damn extravagant. Though it couldn't be considered simple what with little minitaure fairies sitting ontop of mushrooms, one hanging on to a bell shaped flower with her fingertips to not fall into the water below. Looking down at the pond it created in the center she smiled and dipped a finger into the water, swirling it around to watch the way the sun changed over the little waves and how the tiny fish carved into the bottom looked as if they were moving.

With a sigh she turned back around to go back into the house. She still hadn't found Shogo yet and she remembered the little slip of paper that had been on her door that morning. The memory of holding it in her hands and looking over the words still sent tingles down her spine.

_Akane, there won't be any lessons today so just relax. The house is open to you so go wherever you want._

Okay, it wasn't very thrilling but still it's not like people wrote out things to her on old fashioned paper everyday. Besides she didn't feel the least bit like a prisoner anymore. He wasn't forcing her to be there technically, instead he was trusting her by giving such an invintation. A smile formed on her face again and she stepped toward the porch to stop short and just stare at the designs the wood made with the replica of leaves and vines as if it was overgrown and yet there wasn't a single green spot on the whole thing. Her eyes stopped on rope curled between two of the supporting mass of 'vines'. Walking the bit to where the porch started she hopped over the small step that could only be around two inches tall. She wandered over to the hammock pressing her hands down into the coils to seperate the two curled sides. It obviously had never been used if it was like this. She let go of one side and kept the other down as she sat down hesitantly before scooting back so it didn't send her sliding off the edge or anything. Laying on her side she brought her legs up and yelped in surprise when she rolled towards the center suddenly.

She blinked staring up at the carvings in wood above her beyond the little triangle squares of rope that had closed her in a sort of cocoon. It took her a second to gain her bearings but when she did a giggle escaped her and then she was just outright laughing. She raised her hands to tangle them in the rope making it bunch up so there was only two holes forming a pair of binoculars from which she finally looked at the wood above and how it looked like more vines and leaves except now there was little forest creatures as well. She smiled appreciating the fact that Makishima liked these older style and unique creations that were actually real. Unlike her apartment in the city where she just said what she wanted it to look like for the day.

**/ / /**

The sound of laughter echoed down the halls and Makishima looked up from his lunch to stare down the paneled hallways. He stayed sitting for a moment stunned at the noise. It sounded close which meant she must have traveled through most of his home by now though he wondered how much of the rooms she had actually seen since it was still early. He would have expected her to be more curious about it. Not that he was complaining about the pleasant ring in his ears.

Thinking back on it he couldn't remember anytime she had laughed before since coming here or even hearing her so much as giggle. Taking a sip of tea before he pushed the chair he sat in back to get up and start toward where it was coming from. The fact that she was now made him smile. It meant she was having fun he figured. Though doing what?

That thought worried him. Was he about to walk in on more bad british accents and moving of inanimate objects? Which apparently amused her greatly.

He stopped in the room with the glass filling up one side of the wall and looked toward the open sliding door. Walking over softly he stepped onto the porch and glanced to his left to see her in the hammock with rope curled in her hands in some obscene shape that made no sense to him, apparently you had to be at her angle cause she was still laughing at whatever it was. Then she started speaking and he had to hold the chuckle back so he wouldn't alarm her and therefore stop what she was doing cause it was damn adorable.

"The robin has gotten loose!" Her voice had taken on apparently what she thought to be an australian accent. It changed back to normal the next time she spoke, "I'll find it! I swear by the bird and woodland creature watching handbook of rules! And the creed!" There was barely even a pause before she was back to the accent, "Good luck! We're counting on you!" she swung her hand up in a salute then quickly moved to get her rope she had let go of to do so back in it's previous shape. Her fingers fumbled some more for awhile and then she started up again, "Entering the Amazon. Let's see what we have here," her pinkie drew over a strand of rope as if turning it, "look at that squirel collecting nuts. So cute," Shogo agreed with her, what she was doing was very cute. "come here. Nope. It ran up the tree." she giggled. "Oh well see ya when winter ends!" Even from here he could see the cheery smile she had made. "Now robin, come out come out wherever you are." The last sentance came out in a sing-song tone and he couldn't stop the laughter that had been building in his own chest from escaping for the shortest of seconds.

Akane's head whipped around staring at him with wide eyes, her hands had let go of the ropes and it curled quickly to take it's normal shape. Her mouth kept opening and closing little i's kept coming out as she stuttered as if trying to come up with an explanation for her antics. Shogo walked forward and pushed a finger against her lips to quite her little sounds as he continued to chuckle softly. "I just have one question. Is being random and crazy how you relax?" At her cheeks becoming a deep red and puffing out he couldn't hold any of it back anymore and laughed loudly. She joined in soon after, their laughter filling the air.

**/ / /**

Drawing in a breath she blew out, smoke curling up into the air from her red lips. Putting the cigarette down to rest on the edge of the ashtray beside her workplace. Fingers tapped relentlessly at numerous keyboards infront of the analyist. Shion tipped her shoulder to keep the phone rested near her ear while the screens flickered infront of her; numbers and names of streets collected into a list, an empty alley being looked at at different angles as the cameras changed every few seconds, a screen with blueprints corresponding with the list of addresses. She sighed softly as another alley came up and it started again, one of the screens was occupied with checking for anyone remotely looking like Makishima, another for potential criminals he might work with. She kept clicking away trying to not let the noise coming from the phone distract her as she quite literally did a million things at once.

Voices kept spilling over from somewhere in Tokyo, raising above the roar of an engine in the background, "If you don't stop with all your hypothesis I'm sticking you in the clinic ward Kogami!"

"Do you have any better suggestions as to why we haven't found her yet?"

"No, but you could be optimistic and stop with your crazy ideas." One hand grabbed for her cigarette again so she could take another drag. Shion could mentally visulize everything going on in that car and judging by the silence Gino was currently glaring at Ko. She sucked in the smoke already feeling relaxed and it sunk into her bones until it was jarred out of her, "I told you to stop thinking about it!"

"How can I when she's somewhere in the city being tortured? And we have no-"

"Both of you shut up! You're giving me a headache." Shion snapped into the phone smoke trailing from her mouth as if she was on fire.

"Atleast you only have to listen to it for five minutes." The sound of yayoi's voice calmed her more than a cigarette ever could. There was a mutter from someone else and then, "I heard that."

"As your superior I'm ordering the both of you to shut the fuck up." Ginoza berated two of the Enforcers in the car. "Good. Now, Shion where is the nearest location to where the car is right now? We need to get there before they call us to some other case."

Shion turned from the screens trying to search Makishima and the 'criminals' and tapped at the keyboard again. A map flickered up into the corner of the address screen and she tapped a few more times until one got hightlighted. There was red x's near the ones that had already been searched, which was maybe about an eigth of the list. "Okay. I got it. Sending the coordinates to your GPS."

**/ / /**

Pulling her head back from looking inside the storage she closed the door behind her. "Not quite as exciting as the last one but still..." She trailed off not sure what to say, she was pretty sure she had alreadu used up all the descriptive words she knew over the last thousands of rooms. "I mean, is there any space in here that isn't being used in some manner?" Akane asked turning to Shogo who had been giving her a tour of what she knew for sure could only be called a mansion.

"There's a few rooms not in any paticular use. Some are even empty." Makishima replied without looking at her.

She frowned when he didn't even turn towards her when he spoke. He had been doing that for the past hour but she had refused to say anything about it thinking his mind was just preoccupied with other things. Being a criminal-technically anyway-had to be a rather busy occupation-if one could call it that, she kept wondering what he had done for work before turning to this sort of lifestyle and focusing on taking down Sybil. "Just a few?" She said with a smile, hoping he would turn and catch her expression. The upward curl of her lips fell a second later though. Her teeth skinned her lip, pinching it. "Shogo," She reached out a hand to wrap her fingers along his shoulder. "is something wrong?"

His head began to turn to her but stopped short of actually looking at her. "'Course not. What makes you think that?" His hand had gone up to tangle in her fingers, ultimately pulling her hand off before letting go.

Akane dropped her head slightly to look down at her bare feet. For a moment she wondered why she kept getting clothes but no shoes. She shook that thought out of her mind to look back over at him to see he was turned away again already walking down the hall and she moved to catch up with him. "Then how come you won't look at me?" she asked. He hadn't been acting like this earlier afterall. "Did I do something wrong?" She was trying to remember what she had done an hour ago. What she possibly could have done at that time for him to start acting that way.

But she couldn't come up with anything. They had been doing the tour then as well and she had gotten something to eat a half an hour before even that. Okay, tour, she was almost positive they had been in the hall and he had been telling her about some of the pieces in the backyard when she had asked while they passed some doors they hadn't bothered to open. She had actually asked about the fairy pond which apparenty had been bought by his mother while she was alive. Actually she had decorated that whole part of this house, when it was the size of a house anyways.

Can't be that. What else? What else do you remember Akane? There was... was... They had started actually looking into the rooms, or rather she did, and he just waited for her to look around before directing her to the next one. Akane frowned peering over at Makishima and realizing he had stopped walking and somehow she had as well. She figured her subconcsious was making sure she didn't run into walls and was the part of her brain keeping track of her feet at the moment. Still... what could it possibly be? Wait. Had he gotten news of her unit finding the location? That would be gr-bad. Very bad.

She sighed. You have to stop thinking like that, she told herself. You're not even in the city. How would they find you all the way out here?

"No."

"Eh?" She blinked over at him her thoughts coming to a trainwreck style crash. A flood of guilt crashed over her for having been thinking stuff like that while he stood next to her and she turned to look at him a little confused as to what he was talking about.

He met her eyes this time. "You haven't done anything wrong." She opened her mouth hesitantly wanting to ask what it was then. "Come on," he reached for her hand and she twisted her fingers with his while he pulled her along, "I want to show you one other room." Akane followed after him given she had little choice in the matter. Her feet pressed along the metal stairs softly while his-that for some reason had shoes on-made the metal ring out with each step. The sound made an uncomfortable shiver run down her spine and she only relaxed once they were off the stairs. Her feet sunk into the carpet of what she was now realizing meant that she was on the second floor. Makishima ignored the first few doors turning into another hall and stopping at the third one down, which was also the last one since it split off into more halls someways after the dark panel of wood. "Here." He pulled open the door and tugged her in.

"Is..." she began but trailed off to walk around the room losing what she had been going to ask in the process. Raising her hands she let her fingers run over the mahogany dresser before making her way to the four poster bed then her eyes spotted another door and she moved to open that as well. The bathroom connected to is was more simplistic than the bedroom but it still had those pretty tiles on the floor that were more on the old fashion side of things, and the faucets were the fountain kind, probably specially made if she was any judge. She turned around to see Makishima had resorted to standing in the middle of the room while she looked around, and the door behind him was shut. Akane hurried over towards him stopping halfway to glance at the lights on the walls that curved outward and how they were all on. "It's pretty." she stated at a loss of words.

"It's my room." He replied and she glanced toward him at the news. "Akane..." She blinked wondering why he was saying her name like that though she liked it. Definetly liked it. How it lingered on his lips when drawn out like that and she took a step forward. "come over here." She obliged, practically sprinting over to stand infront of him closing her eyes a moment later when she felt his hands running along her cheeks to settle in her hair. Akane leaned forward into the inevitable kiss. It was just a short peck and then she was being pulled closer from the hand that had traveled down her back, stopping in the middle of her spine while he urged her forward. Her lips crashed back on his and she raised her hands to wrap along his neck twining her fingers together in back collecting random strings of his hair inbetween them. She could feel his own tugging at her hair and she kissed him fiercly pressing her lips harder against his. That familiar feeling in the pit of her stomach started again and she twisted ever so slightly trying to press all the curves of her body to perfectly fit against his. She opened her mouth to let out a frustrated hiss that cut off before it could begin when his tongue pressed forward. Her own went to meet his when it darted back out and she raised herself on her tiptoes as if the movement could help her reach further into his mouth to chase after his tongue.

He kept dodging her though and she pulled her lips back to bite into his lip in defiance. Stop it! She wanted to snap. Stay still so I can play with you! Of course with her mouth latched to his she couldn't really say the words floating in her mind. She was yanked forward and she sighed around the feeling of his tongue plunging back into her mouth. Each of her hands raked through his hair the left one coming out to grasp at his shoulder. When he pulled away she could hear a distinct whine fill the air and color rose to her cheeks for having made the sound.

Her neck was tingling from the hot air that repeatedly blew across her skin as they both caught their breath. She relaxed her grip on his shoulder leaning in to rest her forehead against it and close her eyes. The sound of his labored breathing along her ear slowed back to a normal pace. Akane lowered her hand from his hair to wrap around his chest a soft smile on her face. The feel of his hands against her circled down to her waist keeping her close and she turned her head burrowing it into the crook of his neck. His hands suddenly fell from her waist and there was a pause in the cadence of breath along her jaw and ear. "Take off your clothes."

"W-what?" She gasped making the word an unintelligible sound pulling back a second later to look at him. Her throat caught and she forced herself to swallow, hard. She wasn't sure anymore if she should have moved from the spot on his shoulder or just stayed there and pretended not to have heard. His eyes were glued to hers, the gold in them seemed to be swirling as if it they were melting. Akane opened her mouth slowly trying to get another word out but it was stuck somewhere in her windpipe.

His lips pressed against her forehead and he whispered into her ear once more, "Akane, take off your clothes, slowly."

"I..." she started then paused looking at him from the corner of her eye since his lips were still next to her ear. Her mind whirled on her. You can say no. She knew she could and he would leave her alone. But, she wasn't sure she wanted to. Then she reminded herself that she could also make a fool of herself while she took the clothes off. Her face was burning and she pressed her lips into a thin line. "Umm," the feel of his breath still racing along her skin made her heart pound and her whole body seemed to flush. "okay." Taking in a breath she loosened her grip on him before her arms completely went slack at her sides and she took a few steps back. She kept biting into her lip and she raised her head slowly eyes catching his just before she looked away the tint coming back to her cheeks tenfold. Her hands were shaking slightly and she brought them up to the edge of her shirt trembling fingers curling into the fabric. She took in a slow breath trying to calm herself. Why was she so nervous suddenly?

Her lip quivered when she could suddenly feel skin running along it. Akane looked at Shogo from under her eyelashes watching his finger trace the curve of her lips for a few seconds until it fell back away. She let go of the breath she had been holding and drew a few more in and out until the twitching of her fingers stopped. Grasping the fabric more firmly she pulled the shirt up and over her head letting it fall from her grasp to settle on the floor. Her skin felt cold as the air rushed over it. She looked back towards Shogo and almost took a step back which probably would have caused her to fall over. He was approaching her and his hand reached forward to wrap along her wrist. She watched with wide eyes as he brought it to his lips and kissed each finger, his hand adjusting her wrap in them while his lips trailed up to her wrist and along her arm.

Akane shivered as each spot of skin he kissed grew hot before fading to a light glow. A sigh escaped her as his lips moved along her shoulder leaving feather light kisses before burrowing his face into her neck to nip at the skin. "Sh-ogo." her breath hitched from his actions. He continued tugging her skin between his teeth with sharp little bites, moving over her collarbone to stop below her chin. She blinked wondering why he had stopped all the sudden. A low whine crawled up her throat and she made no attempt to stop it. The kisses started again, trailing down towards her chest only to stop at the middle of her bra. She gasped at the feel of his tongue pressing against it and then his teeth seemed to be piercing her skin, moving ever so slightly.

There was a small distinct _snap_, and the bra seemed to jump slightly with the sound. It took her a moment to realize he had opened the clasp. His breath coating her skin made her glance down to see him looking up at her. Understanding the look in his eyes she brought her hands back up to push the straps down her arms and threw the article behind her. His gaze had moved back to her chest and she stopped breathing for a moment. Those eyes, before he looked away from her they looked so... "Ah," She was driven out from her thoughts when his tongue dragged across her nipple, her head tipping back momentarily. His lips latched onto her breast and she made a small stretched out sound. That... She moaned again as he sucked at it before moving down to the skin of her breast nipping at the sensitive flesh to bring it into his mouth before sucking softly. Her hands reached out to grasp at the back of his head, fingers curling into the silver hair as if to anchor him to herself. She was gasping every other second, her breathing coming in fast short pants.

Her legs legs shook beneath her, knees threatening to collapse on her. "Shogo," she could barely manage to get his name out as he switched his attention to her left breast. "I," she stopped as a moan dragged itself out from her when his teeth grazed her nipple. Akane felt hot all over, especially between her legs. It was as if she was burning, but in a pleasant way, the heat flowing through her, blossoming outward wherever Makishima touched her. She tightened her grip in his hair, leaning into him. "I think I'm going to fall." she murmured so softly for a moment she didn't think he had heard her. Then his arm was wrapping around her waist and raising her up, his mouth momentarily leaving her body as he walked forward before setting her on the edge of the bed.

His lips fell onto her face, kissing lightly at everywhere besides her lips. She twisted her head trying to catch them with her own lips. He turned away, down past her chin to press his lips hard against her collarbone. She tilted her head back letting out small whimpers while she exposed her neck to him. He left her collarbone to lay kisses along her throat. A hand reached up to pull her head forward and she eagerly leaned down to meet his lips for only a second before he pulled away again. She groaned trying to pull him back up with her hands. It only made his own go up to untangle hers from his hair and press them down against the bed. She could hear his own breath coming fast and she wriggled against him wanting him to start touching her again. His grip on her hands slipped to her wrists pressing them down for a second then moving them towards the front of her jeans. The feeling of his breath against her ear was almost welcoming, if only he would move back down. Teeth tugged at her ear lobe for a moment and then his whisper filled her ears, "Take it off."

For such a soft sound his voice came out rather commanding sending a tremor down her spine. His hands had let go of her wrists and she reache down to tug at the zipper, her fingers fumbled back up to undo the button. She raised her hips to fall backwards onto the bed since her hands hadn't been there to support her, and her feet didn't quite reach the ground. Taking a moment to catch her breath she kept her hips raised and started tugging down at the waistband. Another pair of hands joined hers to assist and the jeans were soon collected at her ankles, she kicked a few times tugging them off the rest of the way with her feet.

Her hands raised up a second later to grab at the thong but his hands caught hers a moment later. "Not yet." He kissed the tip of her nose before crouching down between her legs. She stared at him, watching him raise a hand to trail his fingers up her thigh, almost gliding over her skin. Akane whimpered hips bucking forward so she almost didn't catch the smile on his face. A hand clasped down on her right leg, keeping it pinned. Her heart pounded as he leaned down and she could feel his hot breath against her inner leg. He started nipping at her inner left thigh, moving up at a slow consitent pace drawing out moan after moan from her lips that same small smile on his face before he stopped. She started to twist her hips and he held her fast. Akane trembled with need up until his tongue drew across the front of her thong the heat seeping through to her skin and she cried out.

There was a tapping at her hands and she glanced down to see he had leaned back away from her, resting on his heels. She reached down, tugging the panties down in a hurried manner. He helped her when she couldn't reach much further in her position, she saw them flung through the air a moment later to land on the dresser. Akane blinked at the way a part of it seemed to flash in the light and then she became aware of the wet feeling between her legs. She whimpered, pressing her legs together to have them pried apart a moment later. Her heartbeat fast as she turned her head down to see him approaching her once again. His hands wrapped back around her thighs keeping both of them pinned to the bed this time before his face was lowered.

Akane twisted her head to the side with a whimper when she felt his breath against her, making her feel even warmer than she was. When his tongue touched her and trailed up she moaned loud the sound stretching out with how long he kept his tongue on her for that first lick. Her nerves felt like they had almost exploded from the sensation. His tongue was on her sooner than she predicted and soon she was gasping and moaning as he licked at her pussy and occasionaly flicked her clit with his tongue which made her scream at the pleasure that pulsed through her when touched the bundle of sensitive nerves. The wetness between her legs seemed to have disapeared and she pushed herself up on her elbows to catch sight of a clear white dribble on Shogo's chin that was quickly licked up by his prowling tongue. "Sh-" she started to say his name suddenly curious about the liquid and how she tasted but was cut off when his tongue moved among her folds to plunge inside, "Shogo!" She screamed collapsing back onto the bed as she felt his muscle inside of her.

At first it was a slow movement as if testing the waters and then it picked up suddenly. His tongue thrusting forward deeper into her body, as much as it could anyways. Twisting inside of her causing her to arch against the bed, bringing her hips up as she tried to press his tongue further in. One of the hands left her leg to go toward the heat. She felt a finger press against her clit just as he had moved his tongue almost out of her body then plunged back in this time pressing up against the walls of inside nerves searching every nook and cranny. Her following scream pierced the air, her back arching off the bed pressing her hips further against him. All the tension she had felt collecting in her had been released and a delicious feeling was running through her entire body.

When she fell back to the bed his tongue was still giving her a thorough lashing. As he continued she could feel that tension coiling in the pit of her stomach again. She reached down to grasp his head again trying to keep him there as the feeling filled her even faster than last time. Wanting to feel that again she kept her hands amid his silver locks. When she felt herself nearing that edge again though he pulled back and she moaned out of frustration.

"More," she gasped out as she fought to bring her harsh breathing to a normal pace again. Akane glanced down at him looking between her breats to see him looking up at her, his chin resting above her clit, his tongue lazily tracing out to lick at the hair around her opening. Her breath caught for a moment then her hand moved down quickly to touch that bundle of nerves past his chin that he had licked not to long ago. She closed her eyes as she arched again faintly aware of a hand trailing up her stomach, it squeezed at her breast just before she came again and her scream came out in a half yelp from the short spark of pain he caused from squeezing so hard. Her fingers curled into the blanket only relaxing when she settled back down into the bed. Akane saw his face lower once more and she moaned at just the sight of him between her legs, licking her up and down again. He pulled away sooner this time and she whined pressing her hips forward. "please Shogo."

A smile flashed across his face and he stood up quickly raising his shirt above his head. Akane stopped her little whimpers at him pulling away at the sight and she raised her head to look at the abs his shirt had been covering that she had glanced in the pool before. The skin pale, defintion along his chest and stomach from working out. She licked her lips subconsiously and started to push herself up wanting to lay kisses across the perfect expanse of skin. His hand reached forward and pushed her back down. She hit the bed with an anoyyed huff but watched as he took off his belt then pants and boxers-she was guessing-in one go. Her breath slowed and she tried to look away simply because of the blush rising to her cheeks. She couldn't though and she watched as he walked the short distance back to her after throwing the clothes off in a random direction. He leaned over her hands resting on her hips and she could feel his cock against her inner thigh.

"You wanted more, right?" She nodded her head swiftly and smiled back when his lips curled up at her positive response. "Okay." his hands moved up to wrap around her back and pull her up so her chest was against his so she was sitting on the edge of the bed rather than laying. A couple kisses were scattered quickly across her face. "This is still going to hurt a bit." he murmured into her ear a hand leaving her back but she could feel it down between them at her legs.

As his hand positioned the tip of him at her entrance she wrapped her arms around him and clutched at his muscled back with her hands. "Shogo," she murmured back, "how much will it hurt?"

"You'll only feel it for a second." he whispered the promise into her ear and she relaxed against him. "If it helps, you can bite and scratch all you want." Was he being serious? Akane glanced into his eyes then ducked her head down next to his shoulder and tightened her grip on his back. If she ended up biting or scratching wouldn't that mean it had the potential to hurt longer than he had first said? She closed her eyes, mouth hovering over his skin. "_Akane_, relax."

Her muscles loosened at him drawing out her name like that. Her hands smoothed over his skin. She could feel a foreign sensation in her core as he pushed forward for a moment. For a moment she tensed again but relaxed when no pain had came after the head of his cock had imbedded itself in her. Suddenly his hips moved fast in a quick forward motion and she scream barely a second later. There was a sharp pain between her legs and her hands tightened, her mouth lowering only to nip at his skin after the pained scream was out of her system. She breathed heavily against him as she could feel a dull pain amid her legs and twisted slightly only to yelp. A hand wrapped along the back of her head pushing her face toward Shogo.

She whimpered softly to have lips crash onto hers, then cover her face all over again in quick little pecks, coming back to her lips between a few to linger there for a couple of seconds. When he pulled back he looked at her with questioning eyes. Akane relaxed her grip on his back so her fingernails weren't digging in before giving her nod of consent. She could feel his hips drawing back then into her again. Turning her head towards his face she kissed him quickly before a moan could escape her lips as he picked up the pace rather quickly. Slowly she started moving her hips as well to match with his ryhthm.

Her moans increased in volume and she became aware of him moaning with her as well, the sound going straight into her ear. She blushed when she realized she was making all sorts of sounds between the moans and that he could hear them clearly. All the different volumed calls of his name.. her blush deepened. With one last deep thrust she screamed at the top of her lungs feeling her muscle clamp around him as she arched into his body and he held her tightly against him moaning her name into her ear repeatedly. Akane gasped throwing her head back as the pleasure from the first two orgasms seemed to come over her at once. "Shogo!" she cried out falling forward into his chest moments later as the feeling passed through her whole body.

She fell back to the bed when he pushed her backward and began to press numerous kisses into her skin, leaning up to nible at hers ears and whisper how much he loved her. Her heart clentched and she smiled wrapping her arms around him, "I love you too." her voice came out soft as she didn't want to strain herself after all the screaming she had done. He paused in his actions only to pull out of her and move the two of them up the bed so their heads rested on the pillows. Akane practically reveled in the feeling of a mattress beneath her with sheets. She didn't even care that the blankets weren't over her body, she felt warm enough wrapped up in his embrace, hands securely holding her around the waist. Akane rested her cheek against his chest listening to his heartbeat before falling into sleep after him.


	12. Chapter 12

_- dawn_

**Well I've started a new term for college so updates will be a bit slower. For anyone that's curious, this chapter is the 18th day Akane has been at Makishima's mansion. **

When he opened his eyes Makishima couldn't help but smile. Akane was curled against him, legs twisted up in his own. Her head was resting at an angle along the bottom half of his shoulder, her cheek pressed against his chest. The whole length of her body had melded into the front of his own. He could feel her body heat warming him as his probably kept her warm since they were lying ontop of the covers.

He frowned slightly at the fact that he had forgotten to do that. Considering how she wasn't shivering though it didn't matter, but next time he would make sure to put atleast a thin sheet over her body. She looked so peaceful curled up into him, left arm slung over his chest so it rose and fell with each breath he took. Her right arm looked rather awkward, the shoulder to elbow trapped between their bodies, the lower half wrapped along her own stomach just below her breasts.

His eyes stopped in their little evalutation lingering on the perfect orbs. He raised an arm from around her to raise past her arm and skim his fingers along the paper-white skin. She was absolutely beautiful, if anything was perfect she had to be it. He pressed a fingernail against her nipple before pulling away and watching it harden of it's own accord. His gaze moved away when the nipple had softened again to trail over her exposed left side.

The bruise from when she had fallen to the ground during training still covered the skin and he rested a hand along the surface. He sweeped his fingers over the purple-green mark. When he had let go of her he had expected her to land on her feet rather than crash to the floor. Rubbing small circles into the skin with his fingertips he sighed. Hopefully he hadn't been to rough with her nearing the end of their activities last night. Surely if he had she would have made a comment or something without pleasure lacing every syllable. Seeing how she hadn't he had to guess not.

Just remembering all those differing moans with their frequency and fluxuating amount of pleasure that kept raising with each following action. Little gasps, her breath going short for a moment, everytime she drew in a breath for it to fracture. He had heard them all perfectly with her mouth positioned right next to his ear. He had done that on purpose. There had been a single little mewl as well, he distinctly remembered that because her teeth had sunk into his shoulder as her body trembled against him.

He had kept his desires in check for the most part. Until he got the idea to bring her to his room instead of hers like he had orginally planned. It would have been the last destination on the tour he had deemed to give her. So she wouldn't get lost while walking around. He had even told her where he normally was after she asked about it, confessing to him that she had been looking for him before he found her.

Shogo might have made a remark about how it hadn't looked like she was looking for him, unless he had transformed into a squirrel that is, by some off chance. Her face had gotten all red before snapping for him to erase that from his mind and forget about any other time he had seen her acting like so. Apparently saying he wouldn't hadn't been a good idea since she had hit him upside the head and attempted to storm off. Her stomach growling had stopped that idea before it could really begin.

He was still trying to decide if she looked more adorable when embaressed or angry, as a second place. Since her smiling had taken first place. She certainly looked like a little fire storm when burning with any sort of rage. Her normally light brown eyes would glint red in the light, her jaw became clentched, hands curled into fists, whole body shaking with the emotion running rampant through her. On the other hand though; her face would flush bright red, mouth opening and closing as she tried to stutter out an explanation, eyes wide at being caught. It was almost comical.

Tracing a finger over her skin he decided he would figure it out later. He looked back up past the bruises for his gaze to settle on her face. Bringing his hand up he ran his fingers over her cheek watching as her eyelids flickered for a moment. He leaned down slightly to kiss the top of her head. A small slit of her eye could be seen for a second then the lids had closed again. It was only after another second had passed that her eyes opened fully to look at him and he smiled down at her. Her face broke out into a smile, her eyes sparkling. "Morning." her voice came out soft before she was stretching next to him.

His grip along her waist tightened for a moment, making her press closer as her arms went above her head, fingertips reaching out to brush against the top of the headboard. He moved a leg over her own when it started to slip from him. Her way of stretching dimly reminded him of a cat. "Morning, kitten."

"Huh?" Akane's shoulders rolled back and she visibly flinched. Her arms settled back into the bed when she smiled a second later, "Oh, that's me." He watched as she raised a hand to wrap along the back of his neck, her face turning up and he leaned down to kiss her softly.

Shogo pulled away soon after the simple kiss knowing if he continued he wouldn't be able to stop and would be doing more than just a gentle touch. Her body being naked and pressed against his wasn't helping either as much as he liked the feeling of her next to him. He used the excuse of her flinching once more to distract him. Maybe he had hurt her... He frowned and she gave him a confused look. Before she could open her mouth to question him as she surely would he spoke softly, "Are you okay?" He traced a finger from her shoulder to the palm of her hand. The same one he had kissed along last night.

"hmmm," she seemed to consider his question. "I feel fine," her face suddenly grew warm. "well, actually I still feel great." He smirked at that comment having already known she had enjoyed it but hearing her say she had just made it that much better. "I am a little sore though." Her hand had raised to rub at her shoulder. "I don't normally sleep on my side." she said. The words sounding more like an after thought, talking to herself rather than him.

He sat up, pulling her with him. "Turn around." She glanced at him before turning to face the wall. As he set his hands on her shoulders and applied a bit of preasure she sighed softly. He pushed his fingers into the skin, rubbing at the knots to get them out. "Just your shoulders then? Not anywhere else?"

"No..." Her head had begun to turn as if to look over her shoulder and he pushed at her chin softly to keep her looking at the wall. "Why do you ask?"

He sighed softly as his hands continued to work. Shogo supposed he should tell her what was bugging him. "Was your bruise hurting you at all last night?"

She started turning around again and he tried to keep her looking ahead again but this time she didn't give in and pushed back until she could face him. He sighed in defeat as she reached up to rest a hand on each side of his head. "You were worried about me?" Of course. He nodded in the affirmative. She smiled at him and leaned up, hands wrapping around the back of his neck, stopping short infront of him. Her lips were just a few inches from his own. "I didn't feel it if it did. I was... a bit preoccupied." Her cheeks started turning pink and he leaned forward to kiss her once more before pulling back again. She chased him back and he settled into her kiss for a few moments, running a hand along her bare back and reveling in the feel of her soft skin. He was aware of her breasts pressing against his chest and raised a hand to ghost over the flesh feeling her shiver next to him.

Shogo pulled back moving his hands to lay on her shoulders to keep her at a small distance. "Go take a shower and get some clothes on. I'll be right back up with some food." The last part was almost an after thought as he realized she had missed out on dinner and the fact that her eating was kind of all over the place and just plain inconsistent. It wasn't exactly healthy for her. "Your room is just down the hall in the left bend, first door. Just pick out whatever." He turned quickly getting off the bed to throw some clothes on and leave through the door. Otherwise he would have been pushing into her within minutes, and he didn't need her thinking he was only interested in her for sex. Even if it was really amazing sex.

**/ / /**

She blinked after him, the sound of the door closing echoing in her ears. Akane sighed as her skin started to feel cold from the loss of his prescence. He'll be back up, she reminded herself. He had just told her so afterall. Picking herself up she stood from the bed walking around the room to bend over and pick up her clothes, grabbing at her panties self consiously, eyes darting away as a blush settled over her face. Judging from the spot where it would have covered her entrance she had been soaking wet by the time he went down on her.

Her blush only deepened at the thought and she could feel her stomach coil from the imagery popping up in her head from the night. She forced it back down quickly distracting herself atleast momentarily as she went and picked up his clothes to put them in a hamper she located in his closet.

She kept glancing at the clothes around her suddenly remebering how she always saw him in the same type of clothes. Every damn day... Looking at his closet now she found more of the outfits, but also noticed the wider range of selection, though the shirt material was the same. She knew because she kept fingering the edge of each shirt wishing he had worn them more recently so she could lean forward and bury her face in it. Just to take in his distinct scent with each breath.

Oh dear.

Akane turned quickly from the crisp clean shirts trailing over to the rest of his clothes simply curious while she smacked herself mentally over the head. It couldn't have been that long since he had left the room and she was already missing him. How was it even possible for her to be having that feeling so fast? She ran a hand along a small drawer as she walked, noting in the corner of her mind how big this closet was and how big her own must be in comparison. It seemed completely natural to her though. As if she was always going to fall in love with the infamous criminal. The way things had panned out just made it so much easier for her to fall for him. Even if he had acted like a jerk in the beginning.

A shiver ran down her spine and she turned around slipping out from the room a few seconds later. Akane left the door open not sure if she would be able to find it again otherwise. She started down the hall, repeating his directions in her head. Left bend. She turned. First door. Her lips curled upwards as she settled a hand over the silver knob which was distinct among the other brass ones in the hall. She really wasn't to far from him in that aspect though she doubted she would be able to get right back into sleeping in a bed without him with her though, for actual sleeping that is.

Taking a slow breath she opened the door to enter _her_ room. The first thing she noticed was that the wood of the furniture was dark with a black outlines. The floor itself was red wood. Her eyes traveled over to the bed and she followed to press a hand to the plain white sheets. She glanced towards the headboard, eyes skipping over a thin red blanket thrown across the bed, there were four pillows at the top of the bed; two white and two red. Akane smiled she rather liked the color scheme he had set up. Running her hand along the silk sheets she turned to look at the vanity with its four drawers and mirror set in the middle. The chair was turned slightly out in an inviting way. She stopped herself from going over to investigate the contents, with one last glance around the room, eyes settling on the dresser before she started for one of the two doors and opened it.

She peered in a hand searching for a lightswitch and flicking it on. The bottom half of the tile wall were red squares, the top half white squares, there was a small strip between the two with vines and flowers in varying shades of the two colors. Glancing to the sink she saw it was a fountain mechansim but slightly different from the one in Makishima's room with vine designs imprinted along the metal surface. She moved to the shower, stripping her clothes as she went and setting them in a small laundry basket in a corner. The door was made of clear glass so she could see straight into the square shaped shower about an eigth the size of her bedroom. It must have been big enough for six people to be in there comfortably. There were three shower heads, one on each wall.

It was all so pretty. And it was hers. Akane smiled and slipped inside closing the metal door behind her though there was a foot of space between the top of it and the ceiling. She walked over to one of the dials and turned it letting the water flow over her. A sigh escaped her and she reached out to grab at the conditioner backing out from under the hot water for a moment as she rubbed it into her hair. She snatched the soap a second later her mind wandering as she rubbed what smelled like roses and vanilla into her skin.

Her mind was fleeting back to that day on the tower. She was relieved that it had gone the way it had. If not then...she would never have gotten to know Shogo more, much less fall in love with him. He wasn't as bad a person as she had first thought. Granted, he definetly wasn't the most socially skilled person she had ever met when it came to interacting with people. She still hadn't cared for being dumped into a vat of ice cold water, but she knew what he had done it. Again, not the best way, but it was the way he did things that she liked even if it made her uncomfortable every once and awhile.

It was fine. Really.

She would never have thought he of all people had a sense of humor either. Of course he had surprised her quite a bit last night. She hadn't-atleast directly-thought of sleeping with him. More so just touching him which she still hadn't done much of now that she thought of it. That was going to have to change.

She finished rubbing the soap along her body and stepped back under the water having set the block back on the shelf. Her hand grabbed for the razor and she quickly went to work on her legs a light blush forming on her face that he had chosen a day to do that when she hadn't shaved the day before. Of course there was hardly anything there-Yuki would have insisted she was just being self consious.

After rinsing off once more she grabbed for the shampoo her hand hesitating over the two containers sitting there. It took her a few seconds to decide and she grabbed the one labeled honeydew. She was done with the shower in the next few minutes and turned the dial to stop the water flow. Stepping back out she grabbed a white towel from the rack to dry off her body before wrapping it around herself. She turned towards where the cabinets were opening and searching until she found the hair dryer.

Akane stepped out from the bathroom with her hair dryed, towel hanged back up, and headed straight to the drawers. She started to open them but closed them a second later until she found what she wanted. A small smirk passed over her lips. She had known in a corner of her mind that he would do this but she hadn't thought that she would be happy to see it before. Well, if anything he didn't have bad taste in the clothes she wore though she pondered if it was because he mentally pictured her in it first before getting them. She slid her hands over one of the lingerie pieces with black silk mixed with little threads of red that seemed to be used to outline certain parts. With a glance around the room as if she thought someone might see her actually thinking about wearing it-and she so did-she picked it up from the drawer and set it aside on the bed. She went back to find the upper piece before retreating back and fitting them onto her form.

Once she was done she walked over to the vanity to look into the mirror, stretching a leg out infront of her casually as if she wasn't trying to show herself that it was sexy. He would like it, she decided and went to grab the gloves that went with it that barely met her elbow and slid them on. With this sort of attire he wouldn't be able to ignore her like how he seemed to earlier this morning. He left for food sure, but he still did it in a really hurried manner.

She paused blinking looking back at the mirror. Had she not been good? Granted she hadn't done much but he hadn't seemed to want for her to do much. It had seemed to her that he was completely content with giving her pleasure first. She had orgasmed three times. Biting at her bottom lip she shook her head quickly and started for the door. Surely she could just ask him, right? That should be fine. Though... no no Akane, just do it. No questioning yourself just do it.

With a sigh from having beaten herself into the notion that she would ask she walked from the room to make the short trip back to his. When she got back to find the door was still open. She figured he wasn't back yet since it was open, he seemed to close a door whenever he exited a room for some inexplainable reason. So when she stepped through the doorway she was shocked to find Shogo lying back on the bed with a small tray placed on the bed. Her eyes traced up from his legs still clad in those black slacks up to his chest. Which-of course-was covered by his shirt. She practically just wanted to shout, oh come on!

Here she was, standing in the doorway with next to nothing on and he was clothed in the bed? Something out in the universe hated her. It was that or he liked wearing those outfits too damn much. If there was one thing she was going to do it was going to be to break that habbit. That or somehow force him to walk around shirtless since she had always been walking around in outfits that showed her body off in one way or another.

She noticed a second later that his eyes were on her and she felt a light blush spreading accross her cheeks. But... he still was... "Why are you being like that?" she exploded.

His arm shifted slightly as he looked at her. "What?" Shogo looked a bit perplexed by her outburst. "Being like what?" There was hardly a pause before he said in a matter-of-fact voice, "You look hot and angry." Another small pause. "Did you not like the room?"

Akane lost her voice for a second but then shook her head. "N-no I like the room. Love it actually, but-that's not the point! You-just-I..." She raised her hands up to run through her hair staring at him. Just lying there, with those damn slacks, with that fucking white shirt. Always all smooth, not a wrinkle in the cloth. Crisp. No crumpled bits, like ever. Her lips were slowly twisting into a frown as she continued to glare at that white piece of fabric hiding his chest from her. She could just see Shogo start to open his mouth to speak when she lunged across the room to land on the bed and crawl up toward him, sitting herself on the top half of his legs. Her gaze stayed centered on the shirt completely missing the way Shogo's eyes widened at her actions. She leaned forward and her hands striked out a second later. Her fingers curled into the fabric before tearing it apart in her hands within seconds.

At the end of destroying the shirt she was breathing heavily still lying ontop of him. Her breathing began to slow until she had resumed a normal pace. She was now staring at the shreds of his shirt and blinked when a hand reached over and picked up one of the pieces. "I take it you didn't like the shirt."

She blinked at his hand that raised the shred up before dropping it to flutter back down onto his chest that was now covered with the remains. Her lower lip stuck out in a pout and she reached down-slower this time-to pick off the shreds and throw them over the side of the bed. Akane slumped forward onto his chest with a huff closing her eyes a moment later with her cheek pressed against his skin.

"You're a bit odd sometimes, you know that?" His voice made her eyelids flicker back and she turned her head slightly to look up at him smiling down at her. She smiled back as if it was the answer to the rhetorical question. A hand was running through her hair, just barely touching her scalp and she leaned into it her action met with a chuckle. "You look similar to a cat when you do that sort of stuff."

"Stuff?" she murmured snuggling up against him. His heartbeat was beating steadily next to her ear and she smiled at the sound of it.

"When you were stretching before." He replied a hand moving to run along her upper arm then back up again to the shoulder. It repeated the same action countless times. His next words sounded far away to her ears, "It's good not be alone." she blinked up at him her lips parting to say something but a finger was held to her lips and then tracing the outline. "Just listen for a moment." Akane waited a second, just considering before nodding slightly at his request. "This will probably sound ridiculous to you but, I used to think everyone nowadays was just like an empty shell. All spread out among others but never reaching them. Simply because they don't have to for their needs anymore. You just get them all over the net and people go on com fields if they want to participate in something or be social without the danger of going outside. I'm still pretty sure most people now wouldn't notice they were in danger until it was to late." He paused in his words as if sensing he was going off track, his eyes shifted down to meet hers. "Then I meet you, a crazy, out-of-her-mind girl. Who certainly can't be called empty." She was so tempted to say his name right then but she held the urge back. "Somehow I came to the conclusion that I need you in my life. That you might even need me in yours.

"Not a complete fool's notion but I feel like it sometimes." He sighed softly and she pictured the little cloud of smoke that would have come out had he had a cigarette in his mouth before. "Besides, you have this spark within you and in the soceity currently I can't picture it shining there. It's best that you're just here." She blinked up at him. Was he saying he wanted her to stay here in this mansion for the rest of her life? It sounded tempting and really... she had amused herself with the idea just a few days ago. "If I lost you ou there I would never be able to find a replacement for you," he motioned around the room with his free hand as the other was still roaming along her arm, making her skin tingle everytime it passed over. "for us. This relationship of ours." He glanced away from her. "This may sound cruel but, you should know. I don't regret taking you from the top of that tower down with me. Even though the motives were different then. I can't imagine having missed out on this now that I have it." A strand of hair that had been falling into her face was moved out of the way, tucked back behind her ear. He was staring down at her again.

Akane smiled up at him. "I don't think it's cruel." she said reaching up to touch the tip of his chin with a single finger, drawing it down to his jaw which captured her attenssion for a moment. Honestly, everything about him caught her attenssion. "If you hadn't I wouldn't be here right now, and I kinda like it here."

He smirked at her, eyes seeming to shine a brighter gold. "Kind of?" His eyes slipped over towards the floor at the side of the bed. "You seem to make it known when you don't like something."

Her face was growing hot again from his words. "I-just-it-well..." At his little amused puff-it was the only word she could think of that could possibly describe the sound-she frowned slightly. "It bothered me. You always wear those damn things and they, just, it's always in the way." His brow curved up slightly. Though he was still smiling at her, looking as if he was about to burst out laughing. "Besides, it's not like you would miss one when you already have a million of the same thing." She said with a huff.

His laughter resounded in her ears and she drank it in eagerly. It was so light and she found it heart warming to hear such a sound coming from him. He even looked like someone to her now that could laugh. Instead of being like a figure shrouded in crimes. It was almost... cute.

Her stomach rumbling interupted him and he just looked at her clearly amused. "You keep forgetting to eat and you're already skinny." He straightened himself up to lean against the headboard, pulling her up with him in the process. "Now eat, or else you won't have energy for the rest of the day."

She rolled her eyes while picking out a grape from the bowl on the tray. "What would we be doing today that would need energy?' she popped the fruit into her mouth closing her eyes as the sweet liquid filled her mouth when she bit down. Real fruit. It was just so delicious compared to the hyper oats.

"Well, it requires a bed and the two of us." The words were whsipered straight into her ear and she felt a shiver run down her spine. If that was all he had planned for today... she wasn't going to say no.


End file.
